Distorted Reflections
by JDH1080
Summary: Inside everyone there is a side you never want to see, or admit to having. His friends were prime examples of how to face yourself. It's a shame that Souji Seta never chose to face himself.
1. Return to Inaba

**Damn this is way overdue. I meant to post this first chapter on the day that Persona 4 Golden came out, but unfortunately my computer was in the shop at the time. And even when I got it back I was too busy…playing P4G, just beat it last night to be honest, awesome game. **

**Anyway important thing to note, I started writing this way before P4G came out, so there will be no mention of Marie or any other P4G exclusives that weren't in the original Persona 4 game. Another thing, I also started writing this story before the release of the Persona 4 Arena fighting game. So those events will have absolutely no influence in this story. So with that out of the way, please sit back and enjoy my first ever Persona story.**

* * *

Distorted Reflection

Chapter One: Return to Inaba

The first thing that Souji Seta realized upon regaining conciseness was that he was no longer in the bed of his home in the city. Nor was he laying on his futon at his Uncle Dojima's home in Inaba, in fact he was nowhere.

His only company for his first few moments of being in the black empty void was silence. It was so dark in the void that he couldn't even see his hands, not even when he brought them up to his face. Another thing the gray haired youth noticed was how quiet it was; it was a bit eerie not hearing anything except for the sound of his own breathing.

After a few more minutes of complete silence and of being virtually blind the teen felt himself get slightly annoyed. "Where am I?" He asked to no one in particular. Shaking his head Souji closed his eyes and tried to visualize what he had done the previous day before going to bed.

It had been a normal school day; save for the fact that tomorrow was marked as the first day of exams so he had stayed up late in order to study. Souji didn't go to bed until sometime well after midnight, and the moment Souji had closed his eyes and surrendered to the blankness of sleep was the moment he had been pulled into the void. The world had been reshaped in what could be considered a blink of the eye, history rewound and the future untouchable. The truth that he, along with his closest friends, had sought now meant nothing.

Souji was confused by this dark world. It felt like he was in a free fall yet he couldn't tell which way was up and which way was down. Was it possible that he was asleep and dreaming? Upon pinching his arm he concluded that was most likely not the case. "Where am I?" The gray haired youth asked to no one again while rubbing his arm. Suddenly Souji felt his feet connect with the solid ground beneath him and it was at that time the world became bright. "Whoa!" Souji called out in surprise as he quickly shielded his eyes before peeking through his fingers with squinted eyes.

"**Welcome, Souji Seta!"** A distorted voice called out to Souji. Souji spun on his heel and looked behind him to see nothing.

The world was now bright white, so bright that he had to cover his eyes, but from what he could see there was still nothingness. "Who are you!?" Souji called out as he nearly gave himself whiplash in the process of swiftly turning his head. 'Or better yet where are you?' The gray haired youth muttered in thought as he continued to look around the white landscape.

Souji's figure was tense as if expecting a fight of some sort. Instinctively he reached for his pocket when he remembered that he no longer carried his Persona Cards. Swearing under his breath Souji remembered that once the investigation had ended he had ceased carrying his Persona cards. He should have at the very least have kept one of his cards on him, but the gray haired teen had thought that with Izanami defeated and the fog vanquished that he wouldn't ever have a need for his Personas. 'Shit!' He thought to himself when he also remembered that he never kept his katana that he had left in his old room in Ryotaro Dojima's house.

"**You wanna know who I am?" **The voice asked as if Souji was nothing more than a speck of dirt. The gray haired youth continued to look for the source of this distorted voice until his eyes locked onto his shadow at his feet. He watched with honest surprise as his shadow was moving by itself, and even talking. **"You really wanna know who I am!?" **The voice demanded in a slightly more aggressive tone as the shadow disconnected itself from Souji's heels and slithered away.

A thin sheen of sweat appeared on Souji's brow as the shadow's transparency darkened. It soon started to pile upon itself until the mass of black was about Souji's height. Suddenly a hand, followed by a whole arm, shot out of the mass of black, the arm was white as a sheet, and its finger nails were blacker than coal. The hand made a fist before giving a stern wave, at that instant the mass of black shot away as if it had been assaulted.

Souji stood stunned silent as he stared at the person who had emerged from the black. He was exactly Souji's height, with skin as white as chalk, and the dreaded yellow eyes that reminded Souji of his friends' Shadows. **"You still wanna know who I am?"** The snow skinned teen asked as he broke out into a big grin. **"I'm YOU!" **He said as he pointed straight at Souji.

"What?" Souji called out as he took a step back. The young man's eyes were dead center locked on the person who looked exactly like him. What was going on? Why was he here? Where was here? "What's going on?" Souji hissed to himself.

The youth with white skin laughed a maniacal laugh that nearly froze Souji's heart in terror. **"You're end! I no longer have a purpose for you!" **The yellowed eyed being laughed as he pulled out a familiar looking blue card from his pocket.

'Persona!' Souji realized immediately as he watched the card in silent fear. Souji released a silent scream as he raised his arms over his head before stepping back.

"**Kill him, Loki!" **The white skinned teenager yelled as he crushed the card between his fingers. Souji didn't dare look ahead of him; he kept his eyes tightly closed as he waited for the end.

"_I think not,"_

A familiar voice rang in Souji's ear. Souji flinched as he felt something in his right hand, opening his eyes he saw a Persona card. 'Izanagi…' Souji snapped his attention to the white skinned youth. Standing beside said white skinned youth was the ultimate Persona of the Fool Arcana, Loki. Both seemed to be waiting for Souji to make his move. "…" Souji released a nervous breath before crushing the card in his hand. Suddenly a large blue aura appeared around his body, and Souji was reminded of the very first time he had summoned Izanagi. "Per-so-na..." He slowly called out in a breathless whisper as the Persona clad in black appeared.

Izanagi, draped in his black cloak, spear in hand, called out. "Thou art I, and I am thou, from the sea of thyn soul I have come." He took a moment to appraise his adversary before swing his mighty weapon. A loud bang sounded followed by a bolt of lightning appeared, its target Loki.

"**Bufudyne."** The white skinned youth called out in a bored tone. Loki moved with no hesitation, and suddenly a large block of ice appeared around Izanagi the instant the bolt of lightning connected with Loki's chest.

Loki shouted out a curse that went death on the Persona user's ears while the block of ice that contained Izanagi exploded with a loud boom that left Souji's ears ringing. The white youth watched in silence as Izanagi dropped to one knee before disappearing.

Suddenly the world around them started to change; the whiteness that blanked the area was slowly crumbling into mixes of black and red. But Souji wasn't paying attention to that; no instead he had his gaze locked onto his white skinned doppelganger. The gray haired Persona-user took note in the great deal of disdain and annoyance that filled the white skinned youth's yellow eyes.

After a few moments of silence the blue card reformed in Souji's hand, while at the same time Loki transformed back into a card. **"I'd love to play with you some more," **The yellow eyed teen said as he turned away. **"Sadly for me you have decided to resist, but don't think this is over Souji Seta." **He said as Souji's eyes began to droop and suddenly the gray haired teen blacked out to the sound of that white skinned person's laugh.

* * *

The first sound Souji heard upon waking up was that of wheels, the wheels of a train. His surprise increased tenfold as his eyes snapped open to take in the lush green scenery that was just outside of the window he had apparently been leaning on. It didn't take long for Souji to recognize where he was. Of course he recognized the area, even though it had been just over a year since he arrived at the town of Inaba where the two murders (three if Morooka-sensei is counted) occurred. Souji could never forget anything associated with the small frequently foggy town.

He was quickly able to deduce, by the direction of the train and from the scenery that he was heading towards Inaba. Now, why was he heading to Inaba? For that matter why the hell was he on a train in the first place? He couldn't even fathom a reason as to why he was heading to the small town that he had grown fond of. "School doesn't let out until next month; so why am I going to Inaba?" Souji whispered to himself, his voice was slightly shaky and a little out of breath which was most likely from the odd dream he had just experienced.

His silent question received no form of answer. Souji slowly turned his head to some of the other passengers on the train; maybe he could discover something by observing the people on the train. A lot of them were you're run-in-the mill salary men who made a decent enough living to live comfortably yet not enough money to live in really big houses. Some of the passengers, Souji noted, were students who were forced to commute to school every day because of how far their homes were from school.

Suddenly his eyes fell on a man who couldn't be younger then seventy, but it wasn't the man he was paying attention to, it was the newspaper in his wrinkly old hands. Souji was just close enough to make out the date printed on the newspaper: April 11th, 2011. Souji mouthed to himself in shock. Taking in a large gulp of air he leaned back in his seat before turning his head back to the green scenery outside the train. 'That can't be right.' Souji tried to reason with himself as he released an unsteady breath. 'That's the date…I first came to Inaba.'

Suddenly Souji felt his phone vibrated from inside his jacket pocket. Breaking out of his thoughts the gray haired youth found himself instinctively reaching for his cell phone and flipping it open. The message that appeared on screen only led to infer that today really was April 11th, 2011.

"_Meet us outside Yasoinaba Station at 4pm."_

Souji snapped his phone shut and shoved it in his pocket. He wiped the sweat off his brow. He was trying to process all of this information and he was still slightly edgy from the dream that he had experienced just moments ago. Souji refused to think of the dream at all, for he was afraid of seeing the image of that white skinned man's face. 'Think about this rationally, you're most likely not dreaming.' Souji thought to himself as this felt too real to be a dream. 'You're not hallucinating either, and you're defiantly not drunk.' The gray haired teen calmly reminded himself. 'But still, this is insane. What in the world is going on?' Souji thought to himself as he brought his one of his hands up to his face and gently bit on his thumb nail.

Suddenly the PA came on and announced that we were making a stop, and that all passengers who needed to depart from the train should do so within the next few minutes. Souji, remembering that he needed to switch trains stood from his seat, grabbed his bag, and quietly left the train to board the next one.

* * *

While riding the second train in Souji had found enough time to calm down and to think about what had caused this when suddenly he discovered a silver lining of being back on April 11th of the year he came to stay in Inaba. 'I'll get to see them…' Suddenly seven faces popped into his head. Yosuke, Chie, Kanji, Rise, Teddie, and Naoto's smiling faces appeared in his mind. "At least I know that I won't be alone." Souji thought to himself as he closed his eyes and thought of the good times he and his friends had spent.

Souji pictured his friends; his most vivid memory would have to be the last time he and his friends had all been together, the day he left Inaba. He remembered it clearly, Yosuke, Chie, Yukiko, Kanji, Rise, Teddie, and Naoto all running alongside the train as he left the town that had become a second home to him. Souji felt his mind drift even more as a few other memories, memories related to the investigation, appeared in his mind. The most powerful of all was the time that his younger cousin, Little Sis, had been kidnapped by Taro Namatame, who had been manipulated by the real murder.

Souji found himself frowning as the face of Adachi, Tohru Adachi, flashed through Souji's mind. A second face then flashed through the gray haired youth's mind, the gas station attendant, Izanami, the real puppet master behind the events that took (will take place) in Inaba. Souji opened his eyes before looking out the window. 'Of course though there's still no explanation for why I somehow traveled back in time.' Souji calmly reminded himself while continuing to stare out the window. 'Is it related to that dream?' The Persona-user wondered to himself.

"I need answers." The gray haired youth muttered out loud. 'But who could I talk to, I can't speak to any of the other members of the Investigation Team,' Souji just had a nagging suspicion that he was the only person who had any recollection of the events that would occur soon. 'Maybe I'll find some answers by visiting the Velvet Room?' The boy wondered to himself as from what he recalled Igor seemed to be a fairly knowledgeable being.

Then suddenly a face flashed in his mind, the face of the first person he met in Inaba besides his uncle and cousin. 'The gas attendant!' He remembered how Izanami under the guise of a gas station attendant had greeted him and his family as they came into the gas station on his first day, today. 'Perhaps I can get some answers from her.' Souji thought to himself as he leaned his head into his open palm.

* * *

As Souji walked off the train he had to remind himself not to appear too excited to see his uncle and cousin, as this is supposed to be his first time coming to Inaba, and supposedly the first time ever meeting his younger cousin. Souji gave a firm nod to himself as he continued to walk, soon he making his way pass the front gates of Yasoinaba Station.

"Hey, over here!" Ryotaro called out. Souji was barely able to contain the smile on his face as he saw his uncle and younger cousin, Nanako.

Souji made his way over to his extended family members and opened his mouth. "It's nice to see you again, Dojima-san." Souji's tone was full of politeness, but in all honesty he was very overjoyed at seeing these two.

The older man gave a light laugh. "It sure has been a long time." He commented. "I still remember when you were in diapers." He said while scratching his stubble covered chin. "And there's no need to add the san to my name," Souji nodded at the man's words. "We're family." The dark haired man added on.

The gray haired youth took this time to take in his uncle's appearance. Ryotaro was just as he remembered, slightly taller than him, dark hair, wrinkled collar shirt, tie, and a two day beard in the works. And then Souji felt his eyes going lower, he spotted Nanako. She was dressed in the same outfit she had worn on his arrival. Young Nanako caught his eyes looking at her and took that moment to hide behind her father's leg.

Suddenly her father turned to her. "Come on Nanako, say hi to your cousin." He encouraged his daughter in a light voice.

The young girl stepped to the side before muttering a somewhat shy. "Hello," Then went behind her father to hide.

Ryotaro chuckled at his daughter's reaction to her older cousin. "Why are you being so shy all of a sudden?" He asked his daughter who narrowed her eyes at him before giving his leg a small slap. "Ow!" The older Dojima cried before giving his daughter a small smile which she reflected back at him. Ryotaro shifted his attention back to his nephew before pointing a little away from him and his daughter. "I'm parked right there, we should get going." The older man said.

"Sure," Souji said as he followed the two, who were already making their way back to the car. After placing his only bag in the trunk the three took off to the Dojima house where Souji would most likely spend either most of that night or next day unpacking.

While driving down the street Ryotaro asked Souji how his parents were. "They're doing fine," Souji casually answered. "I'm pretty sure they told you that I can't exactly come with them while they're overseas-"

"Because it's easier on all of you." Ryotaro quoted his sister and brother in law before glancing back at the youth through the rearview mirror. "I talked with your mother. I kinda feel a little bad that you gotta come out here because of your mom and dad's work,"

'More like easier on them,' Souji thought to himself somewhat bitter that his folks were even worse workaholics than his uncle. Sighing he shook his head. "Its fine," He spoke before glancing out the window. "It's not like there's a whole lot I'll miss in the city." Souji said to himself as he remembered how things had been upon returning to his home. His workaholic parents still as always had little to no time for him, and it seemed that many of his 'close' friends had actually forgotten about him while he had been in Inaba. If Ryotaro was surprised by Souji's comment about how he didn't miss his home he didn't show it.

Before he could say more the littlest Dojima spoke. "I have to go to the bathroom." Nanako said out of nowhere.

The older Dojima glanced at his seven year old daughter. "Can you wait?" Ryotaro asked his daughter. "We'll be home in a few minutes." The dark haired man stated. Before Nanako could even respond to her father's question a small beep was heard. "Shoot," Dojima said as he noticed just how low on gas he was. "We need to go to the station," He glanced at his daughter as he drove to the only gas station in Inaba. "Nanako you can use the restroom here while we fill the car up."

The instant they stopped a very familiar voice rang in Souji's ears. "Hi, welcome to Moel." The female gas attendant politely said to his uncle as the three of them climbed out the car.

Souji did his best to keep a good poker face as he watched his uncle and cousin interact with the gas attendant. He remembered the conversation, his uncle asked Nanako if she could use the restroom by herself, she said yes and looked as though she had no idea where the bathroom was. The gas attendant turned to Nanako and asked if she knew where it is.

"It's to the left," The older female spoke, not even giving Nanako a chance to speak she continued. "You know which way's left? The hand you don't hold your chopsticks in." She said to Nanako who appeared annoyed at being patronized by the gas attendant.

Souji watched as his cousin made her way to the restroom, sighing he turned back to the gas attendant who was now speaking to his uncle. "You folks going on a trip?" Izanami, still keeping up the guise of a human gas attendant, asked them in a friendly tone.

The older man shook his head. "No, we just picked him up, Souji here just moved here from the big city." Souji's uncle explained to the attendant.

There was something about the way the gas attendant smiled at Souji; it was then, as she spoke that Souji realized. 'She defiantly knows who I am.' The gray haired teenager thought to himself slightly elevated that he might finally get some answers.

"The city, huh?" Souji, still standing behind his uncle, crossed his arms as he continued to watch the display. The conversation between his uncle and Izanami was exactly like it had been during his first stay at Inaba, right down to the last detail.

The tone of voice flew right over the older Dojima's head as he ordered the young gas attendant to fill up the car. "Good time as any for a smoke." Ryotaro muttered as he pulled out a pack of cancer filled-sticks and walked away.

"Right away, sir!" Izanami excitedly said to the older man as he walked away with the intent to fill his system with nicotine and tar.

Izanami turned her gaze, her eyes flashed red-orange, on the gray haired youth with a light smirk on her features. "How does it feel to be back in Inaba, Souji Seta?" Izanami asked, she almost sounded honestly curious to hear his response.

"What did you do?" Souji was in no mood to mince words; he was going to ask straight out what Izanami had done to send time backwards. "Please don't tell me you built a time machine or something." The gray haired youth said in a sarcastic tone as he rolled his eyes.

"Please," Izanami said slightly annoyed. "Do you really think that I have the power to bend time and space?" Before Souji could answer she scoffed. "I may be a goddess, but even I have my limits." The goddess disguised as a gas station attendant admitted reluctantly. "I am unable to bring people through time." Then Izanami narrowed her eyes all the while staring at Souji. "This was not my doing." Izanami informed the gray haired Persona-user.

Before Souji could utter the words 'Who?' Izanami had lifted her hand and was now pointing a single finger at Souji. "Me?!" He said, raising his voice in surprise.

Izanami almost appeared to be amused at the youth's reaction. "Well…not entirely you, more like you're _Shadow._" Izanami put much stress on the word, shadow.

"My Shadow…" Souji said in shock at what this meant, and then it hit him. "I have a Shadow?" He asked honestly a little surprised at this bit of information.

Izanami nodded. "Of course you do Souji Seta, everybody has a Shadow. The only reason why yours never appeared was because I put a restraint on him when I bestowed the power of Persona to you, but with the ever piling of Personas you gained and the more powerful you became, he became." Izanami sighed to herself as she turned away from Souji to look up at the sky. It was a light blue sunny sky with only a few white clouds here and there.

After a moment of gazing at the sky she spoke. "Considering the fact that you're power was able to overshadow mine, it was only a matter of time before he broke free…" Izanami mused to herself before turning her gaze back on Souji. 'And because you never faced and accepted your other side he drew even more power from you.' Izanami thought to herself actually surprised at just how powerful Souji's Shadow really was. It was during this time that she and Souji moved over to the other side of Ryotaro's car so she could fill it up.

Souji, who had been nodding the whole time, choose this moment to speak. "So because I gained more and more Personas you couldn't restrain my Shadow anymore?" He said, summarizing everything she had just said.

"That's exactly what I just said." Izanami stated in a slightly deadpanned voice. "When I first gave you the Persona Izanagi to you I had no idea that you would amass so many other Persona and that eventually placed a heavy burden on the lock I had over you're shadow." Izanami continued with her explanation even as she filled up the car. "With all of the conflicting personalities you came to possess it became more and more difficult to keep you're Shadow under lock and key." Izanami said, honestly impressed with just how many Personas the boy next to her came to carry.

Souji gasped as his hand flew to his lips. "The dream…" He muttered to himself as he remembered how that white skinned person who looked exactly like him had used one of his Personas.

Izanami nodded. "I was watching, unfortunately it is next to impossible for me to lock you're Shadow back up. He's too strong for me to restrain on my own." Izanami muttered alone. 'He even had the power to bend time and space which resulted in sending himself and Souji back to this day.' Izanami sighed. "Souji I should warn you," The goddess said, suddenly become very serious. "You're Shadow has a lot of power, probably more power than I have." Izanami admitted to herself despite not wanting to say that Souji Seta's Shadow might actually hold more power than her. But she knew that if Souji was going to beat his Shadow than he had to know exactly what he will be dealing with. "Should I try to capture him and seal him back up he will undoubtedly escape."

"Escape?" Souji quietly asked.

"And I won't be able to catch him, so that's why I have decided not to interfere with you during you're second stay in Inaba, but I do believe that you can beat him." Izanami firmly stated before turning away from the gray haired young man. "Even though I won't be participating in the upcoming events they will still occur. Tohru Adachi has already gained his power, he will undoubtedly still be an active force against you in the upcoming events, but this time it won't be I pulling at his strings, it will be…" She turned away as she pulled out the pump away from Ryotaro's now gas filled car. She didn't say the words that Souji knew she was thinking, but it was still enough.

Souji nodded in silent understanding. "So basically I'll have to solve the murder case again…" He said as he remembered the time he gained his first Persona, and then when Yosuke got his, then Chie, followed by Yukiko who was rescued by the combined efforts of him, Yosuke, and Chie. 'And I can't forget Kanji, Rise, and Naoto.' He thought to himself with a small smile.

"But don't forget." Izanami's voice cut through. "You know what will happen, and so does you're Shadow because he is you. Your Shadow has felt every feeling you've felt and thought every thought you've thought." Izanami explained. "So this means that you can alter the events that are about to occur to your liken as can he. You could save one of your friends before they're even taken to the other world." Izanami informed the gray haired teenager.

Souji nodded as he took in this information. Just because he knew the events that were coming didn't mean he had to go through them as he had before, he could change many things. "Or I could confront Namatame before Adachi has a chance to manipulate him…" Souji muttered to himself as he wondered how that would go over.

Suddenly a cough interrupted Souji's train of thought; the gray haired youth shifted his gaze back on Izanami who was wearing a slightly amused expression. "By the way, before you find out on your own and freak out I feel that I should tell you something." Izanami said as she pulled Souji over to one of the side mirrors on his uncle's car. "For some reason," Izanami informed the surprised looking Souji. "You're at least a year younger than you were when you first came to Inaba."

Souji's eyes nearly popped out of his skull as he saw his reflection. His hair was slightly longer, his bangs just barely above his eyes; he hadn't even noticed the difference. He really needed a hair cut…and his face also appeared to be just slightly younger than he recently remembered. "So…that would make me fifthteen years old?" Souji asked himself in wonder as he stared at his reflection.

Izanami crossed her arms and nodded. "Yeah." The goddess confirmed awkwardly as she turned away while crossing her arms. "And don't even ask me why you're Shadow would alter your age. I couldn't even begin to guess why he'd waste his time and energy on that." Izanami honestly said before moving to walk away. "Anyways I should get back to work; they're not paying me to do nothing." Izanami said in her usual friendly gas attendant voice. "If you ever wanna talk you know where to find me, Seta-kun." Izanami said with a light smirk before leaving.

Souji didn't even turn to watch Izanami walk away; he kept his eyes focused on the mirror. He looked exactly like he did when he was fifthteen and he had been going through his rebellious phase in order to gain the attention of his workaholic parents. He remembered how after nearly two weeks of acting out, while simultaneously receiving bad grades he had failed to gain any sort of reaction from his workaholic parents. So he decided to say, "Screw it" and went back to normal and receiving just above average grades. 'That was a little before my sixteenth birthday.' Souji reasoned to himself as he remembered those few weeks of rebelling to obtain his parents attention. 'Sometimes I wonder…' Souji sadly thought to himself.

"What's wrong?" A familiar voice curiously asked. Souji turned to the side to see Nanako who had just exited from the nearby bathroom.

Souji didn't have time to come up with anything even remotely intelligent as he was still reeling back from having thought about his parents after learning about his reversal of age, and appearance of his Shadow. So he settled with the universally acceptable response of, "Huh?"

Nanako's face scrunched up in worry. "It's just you…you looked sad." The young girl admitted in a slightly hesitant tone of voice.

Souji looked at her in slight surprise before allowing a small smile to grace his lips. Even though she wasn't close to him or even knew him very well she was concerned for him. That did make him feel slightly better, only slightly. "I'm fine." Souji said in what he felt like was a convincing tone. "I was just thinking about tomorrow," Souji came up with. "I'm just a little nervous, that's all." The gray haired teen said, hoping that his younger cousin bought it.

Nanako nodded but at the same time didn't look one-hundred percent convinced, but whatever doubts she had she didn't comment on. "I understand that. It must be hard going into a new school where you don't know anybody." Nanako honestly said as she thought how she would react if she were to transfer to a new school with no friends.

Souji nodded. "Yeah, no friends…" He whispered the last part under his breath so that his younger cousin wouldn't hear his words nor would she detect the slight sting in his voice at knowing that he wouldn't be able to hear Yosuke refer to him as his best friend/partner, listen to Chie go on about wanting to become a police officer, nor would he see Yukiko's resolve to continue on becoming the Amagi Inn's manager. 'And of course Teddie is still wondering around the TV world.' Souji reminded himself.

And suddenly he felt even sadder as he remembered that he wouldn't even be able to see Kanji, Rise, or Naoto anytime soon. Kanji would be skipping nearly every day until after being kidnapped, and Rise wouldn't even be in Inaba until sometime during the summer, she was most likely still performing, and Naoto most likely had yet to even so much as step foot in Inaba as she was also probably busy with work as the "Detective Prince".

Souji clenched his fist as he knew that he shouldn't dwell on this train of thought for much longer. The only thing he gained from this line of thinking was the increasing of his sadness at being back in Inaba but not being able to be around the people who arguably were his best friends. 'Hang in there.' Souji tried to convince himself. Suddenly he felt slightly lighter as he knew it wouldn't be very long before the investigation team was back together.

* * *

It wasn't very much later that Ryotaro came back from his smoke. The three family members quickly got into the car and drove to the Dojima residence which wasn't very far. Upon arriving Souji found himself happy to be back at the Dojima house, it felt nice. "Well this is it." His uncle said as he got out of the car followed by Nanako and Souji, the latter of who took the time to grab his bag from the back of Ryotaro's car.

"You're room is upstairs to the left, the one with a lot of boxes in it." Ryotaro said to Souji as they entered the house. "You can take your stuff there; unpack whenever you feel like it." The older man said before heading off to the kitchen to grab a drink.

"Got it," Souji nodded as he moved up the stairs. As he made his way up he took in everything about the house. It was exactly as he remembered it; a few pictures of Nanako and Ryotaro were on the walls of the hallway leading to Souji's temporary room which was next to his younger cousin.

Souji smiled as he entered the room, boxes of some of his personal items and clothes had already been delivered and were stacked. He'd have to spend some time tonight unpacking some of the boxes. Shaking his head Souji made his way and dropped his bag in a corner.

Souji spent the next hour or so unpacking boxes and setting aside a few things so he would be able to lay out the futon and not have to endure sleeping on the couch. Sometime after finishing unpacking and rearranging certain things Souji sat down on the blue couch and leaned on the armrest. Closing his eyes Souji could feel himself starting to slip into sleep, but was unable to go completely as he heard his uncle's voice calling him and Nanako for dinner.

The gray haired youth quickly shot up from his seat, opened the door, and made his way down stairs to see his uncle and younger cousin waiting for him in the living room with food and drinks set out among the table. Souji gave a light nod to the two before moving to sit down.

Ryotaro raised his glass up. "Let's have a toast." He said to his daughter and nephew who both tapped their glasses to his. The three of them brought back their glasses and each took a light swig. "So," The elder Dojima started out as he placed his drink down. "School starts tomorrow; do you have everything you need?" He asked his teenaged nephew.

Souji nodded. "Yes, all of my school supplies are here, and I've already unpacked nearly all of my things." The teenager informed his uncle of his progress. "If I need anything I'm sure that the school can supply it, or I can glance around at a store." Souji offhandedly said.

Ryotaro nodded as this was an acceptable answer. "Good, good. Hopefully by the time school lets out tomorrow you'll have already made yourself some friends." The older man stated with hope that his nephew would have a decent time at Yasogami High School.

Souji resisted the urge to smile as he remembered how he met Yosuke, Chie, and Yukiko on his first day at Yasogami. The gray eyed teen was looking forward to reacquainting himself with his best friends. "I'm sure I'll have at least made one, or two, or maybe even three friends tomorrow." Souji stated with a light smile as he allowed himself to think about the three people he had met before on his first day in Inaba.

It was around that time that Dojima Ryotaro's cell phone chose to ring. "Crap," The elder Dojima muttered to himself as he grabbed his phone and flipped it open. "Dojima speaking," He said as he lightly pressed the phone to his ear. "Uh huh?" He hummed while standing to his feet. "Okay…so where is…" Suddenly he clicked his tongue. "I see, okay I'm on my way." He said before shutting his phone with a snap.

As Ryotaro put his phone back into his pocket Souji and Nanako could hear his muttered words of how it was lucky that he had decided to skip on the alcohol. "Sorry guys, I have some business to take care of, so go ahead and eat without me." The black haired Dojima said as he began making his way to the door. "Nanako make sure to help your cousin if he has any questions."

"Okay…" The young girl said without bothering to hide her disappointed tone that her dad had to leave during dinner and would most likely be gone all night. Besides, it wasn't the first time that the elder Dojima had skipped out in the middle of dinner, and Nanako was certain that it wouldn't be the last.

Souji heard his uncle open the door to their home and the sound of rain pelting against the roof was easily heard by the two remaining occupants. "Nanako it's raining!" Souji's uncle called out to his daughter. "What did you do with the laundry?" He asked hoping that Nanako had brought it in.

The seven year old turned her head to the front entrance. "I already brought it in!" She called out to her father.

"Alright, well I'm off!" Ryotaro shouted before exiting the house, sans umbrella. Soon the sound of a car starting and pulling out of the drive way was heard, and Dojima Ryotaro was gone.

Souji took this time to study his younger cousin's facial expression. Nanako was obviously crestfallen that her father had to leave, it was there plain as day on her face. 'But she won't say anything…' Souji thought to himself as he remembered just how dysfunctional this family could be. A workaholic father who hardly has time for his daughter and a depressed little girl who wouldn't tell her father how sad and unloved she felt every time her father placed his work as a detective over her.

Souji snapped out of his thoughts the moment he heard his younger cousin clearing her throat. "Let's eat." Nanako awkwardly said to her cousin before she began to dig into her meal. Souji followed her example and too dug into his meal.

Souji took a bite of the warm food, chewed, and swallowed. For a few minutes the two relatives eat their meal in silence, none willing to break the awkward silence that hung in the air. That's how it was during Souji's first time in Inaba, this time he wasted little time in talking to Nanako. As soon as he finished chewing his first bite he opened his mouth. "So you're dad's a detective, right?" He asked despite already knowing the answer.

The younger girl shifted her focus onto her gray haired cousin. "Uh huh." She said while nodding. "He works at the Inaba Police Department, and because of how few policemen there are my dad usually gets called in…" Nanako sadly said as her gaze turned to the TV which was showing a picture of Namatame Taro.

Souji became silent as the sound of the TV filled the small living room. "City council secretary, Namatame Taro is under fire for an alleged affair with a female reporter." The gray haired teen found himself slightly surprised at how monotone this announcer was, almost made him want to fall asleep instead of listening to him drone on. "His wife, enka ballad sensation Misuzu Hiragi, revealed to this station that she will likely pursue damages." At this time a picture of said woman appeared on screen. She appeared to be in her mid to early thirties with soft brown hair.

Souji shook his head as he remembered how Namatame was the one to throw his friends into the TV. He could only imagine what would have happened had he not been able to calm his friends down and force them all to think rationally about the situation. Souji felt a shudder go down his spine as he imagined Yosuke and Kanji shoving the former city council secretary into a television, which could have lead to a swift and painful death.

"This is boring." Nanako's soft voice disrupted Souji's train of thought. The gray haired teen turned to see his cousin change the channel which was currently featuring a Junes related commercial. As the commercial went on Souji soon heard his younger cousin singing along to the jingle at the end. "Everyday's great at you're Junes!" Nanako sang as her mood became slightly lighter.

The night continued on, Souji and his younger cousin soon finished their meal. They spoke a little bit that night, mostly idle chit chat, until Nanako had to go to bed.

It was roughly an hour or so before midnight that the gray haired teen returned to his room to sleep off the day's events. The gray haired Persona-user yawned as he climbed into his futon; tomorrow was his "first" day of school. 'Don't wanna be late; I've got an appointment with some old friends.' Souji thought to himself, mentally laughing to himself, as he fell asleep with a small yet hopeful smile on his face.

* * *

Tohru Adachi blankly looked at the flickering rippling screen with honest surprise. "Sh-she fell in…" Adachi muttered in amazement as he stared at the screen. He laughed. "Amazing, so people really can go inside." Adachi laughed even more before turning to look at the white skinned youth who had remained hidden throughout his entire exchange with Mayumi Yamano. "Just like you said…" He muttered before schooling his features into a guarded expression.

"So you believe me now?"

The brown haired detective nodded hesitantly at the yellow eyed man's distorted voice. "I'll admit that I was surprised when you contacted me, especially with what you know about me being able to stick my hands and head into a TV. But this…" He turned to glance at the large TV. "This does prove a lot." Adachi sighed while scratching his head. 'This does sound pretty interesting, a world with people devouring Shadows and then there's…'

The dark haired detective sighed as he turned to look into the Shadow's wild yellow eyes. "So tell me a little more about those brats." Tohru Adachi demanded with a smug grin.

* * *

**So there you go, first chapter. I'd appreciate it if you guys could drop a review, tell me what you think if you liked it or not. Regardless of how many reviews I get I'll be updating this on my own time, because I just got a new job, and I'm going to be working nights, so updates will be pretty sporadic. **


	2. Old and New Faces

**Holy lord this is way overdue. I am sorry to the people who may or may not have been waiting for me to continue this story. A lot of crap's been happening recently and while I am a little ahead I haven't been able to find the time to work on this until recently. On another note I'd like to thank the four people who reviewed this story, thank you guys it makes me happy to receive reviews whether they praise me for my work or criticize it either way it helps. And even to the people who didn't review you guys are also a welcome and I hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

**With that out of the way let's get this on. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 4; if I did I would be amazingly rich and would not bother writing fan fiction. I do not profit from this in anyway so, roses are red, violets are blue, lawyers you cannot sue. **

* * *

Distorted Reflection

Chapter Two: Old and New Faces

The world around Souji was deeply covered in fog. "This place…" The gray haired teenager muttered to himself as he stared out at the white fog.

"Souji Seta…" A deep voice called out. Souji turned around to see Izanagi standing behind him, he looked relaxed. "It's been a while; finally my voice is able to reach you." Izanagi said with an amused chuckle.

Souji could only give his initial Persona a slightly confused look as the meaning of Izanagi's words, for all intents and purposes, flew right over his head. "What do you mean?" He slowly asked the Persona clad in black.

"I mean as I said," Izanagi stated as though he were speaking about the weather. "It has been a long time since my voice could reach you, without having to be drowned out by the other voices of your Personas." He added on almost as though it were an afterthought.

Souji nodded as he could somewhat follow what Izanagi had just said. 'Drowned out by other Persona, that makes sense.' He knew that with each Persona he had gained they're voice could be heard, and as Souji came to amass more and more Persona, the times he used Izanagi became fewer and fewer until he stopped using Izanagi's card altogether.

Izanagi took a step forward. "We need to talk," He stated with no room for argument. "I feel that the upcoming trials will not be easy. In fact it will be very difficult for you as you no longer hold the Wild Card." The Persona in black explained in a grave tone.

Souji's gray eyes widened as this was new information to him. "Wait, What!?" He called out in shock. The gray haired teen took a moment to calm down before calmly asking, "Are you trying to tell me…that I can no longer use multiple Personas anymore?" His voice held a bit of concern.

Souji's Persona nodded in response. "That is exactly what I am trying to convey to you, you are now like your comrades, you are now limited to one Persona." Izanagi informed the gray haired teen, getting straight to the point.

The gray haired Persona-user looked on in disbelief. "How come I don't have the Wild Card anymore? How can I get it back?" The questions spewed out of his mouth without him even thinking. This wasn't good, the Wild Card had been the pinnacle of his power, and without it the upcoming events would be even more trifling than it originally was.

Izanagi shook his head. "Do not lose hope Souji Seta. To defeat yourself you do not require the Wild Card." The Persona spoke slowly and deliberately, hoping that Souji would not come to doubt himself. "As long as you hold faith within your own power, and the power that your friends have, you will not fall." Souji stared into Izanagi's yellow glowing eyes. Unlike his Shadow who had seen yesterday, these eyes were filled with hope and determination. And suddenly Souji found himself believing that he maybe he wouldn't need to rely on the Wild Card.

But before Souji could say anything the sound of a long drawn out clap was heard, followed by another and another. "How so very touching," A sarcastic voice that sounded somewhat like Souji's said. "But come on Izanagi, even you should know that as his only Persona you'll be next to worthless!" The voice called out followed by laughing.

Izanagi slowly turned his head to the source, followed by Souji. The white skinned version of Souji stood, his hands frozen in mock clap. "You." Souji softly said with venom in his voice as he remembered the last time he dreamed of his Shadow.

"Me," Shadow Souji said with a smug smirk as his yellow eyes flashed. "But getting to the matter at hand, come on me!" The Shadow cried out. "Even you should know how just how weak and pathetic this Persona is!" The snow colored man shouted at Souji. "Why is it that when you started getting stronger Persona that you stopped using Izanagi altogether? I'll tell you why because he's weak!" Shadow Souji gave a maniacal laugh before he fixed Souji with a smug smirked. "Weak, just like those pathetic people you delude yourself into thinking you're friends with."

Souji balled his right hand into a fist at the mention of his friends. Something about his own image insulting his closet friends just pissed him the hell off. "Shut up." The gray haired Persona-user gritted his teeth at the white skinned Shadow.

Yellow eyes danced in glee. "Ooooh, struck a nerve did I?" He sarcastically asked before wildly laughing. After a moment of laughter the yellow eyed being paused. "Fine then I'll shut up. I'll shut you up!" Shadow Souji claimed as he reached into his pocket and produced a Persona Card. "Cybele!" He shouted as he crushed the card.

Suddenly a purple skinned woman wielding two swords appeared. Souji's eyes widened as what seemed like a thousand arrows rained down on him. Thankfully Izanagi was more than willing to take the brunt of the damage. "Izanagi!" Souji called out as he mentally ordered his Persona to use Zio.

Shadow Souji's eyes widened as he felt himself being knocked down. "Argh!" Shadow Souji's eyes widened in pain as he cried out in surprise at being hit. "Damn you!" The Shadow shouted before falling to one knee.

Souji pulled out Izanagi's card and crushed it. "Once more, Persona!" The gray haired Persona-user cried out as the crushed remnants of the card seeped through is fingers.

"Damn you, damn you to hell!" Shadow Souji cried out as he realized his folly in choosing Cybele who carries an annoying weakness to lightning affinity base attacks like Zio. Despite it being a weak spell, and currently the only lightning skill that Izanagi possessed, it defiantly knocked Shadow Souji off his feet and left him reeling.

Souji took this time to lay in another attack. Crushing Izanagi's card once more he shouted. "Zio!" Izanagi appeared once more in front of the Shadow and swiped at it with his spear.

Shadow Souji was quick to recover and retaliate. "Now you'll pay!" The white skinned youth cried out as he jumped to his feet. Switching Persona's he grabbed another card. "Thor!" He shouted as he commanded the Persona to use Gigantic Fist.

Souji was lucky enough to just barely dodge the attack. Wordlessly he crushed his Persona Card once more, and mentally ordered Izanagi to fire off another Zio on his Shadow. The attack missed it's mark by a few centimeter's.

"Like I'd allow you to hit me again!" Shadow Souji called out as he switched Personas yet again. "Surt!" he called out as the dark skinned Norse god appeared before him mid swing of its fiery sword.

* * *

"Hey wake up, breakfast is ready!" A familiar voice echoed. The world around Souji immediately vanished and was replaced with the familiar warmth of the guest room at the Dojima residence. Souji felt groggy upon waking up, he also realized that someone was in his room and was shaking his prone form. "Uh…hey are you okay?" The slightly concerned voice of Nanako Dojima inquired.

Souji nodded. "Yeah," He sleepily said while rubbing his eyes. "Just a weird dream is all." The gray haired youth said trying to brush off the seriousness of the whole thing.

Nanako, despite being somewhat concerned, nodded as she allowed her lips to go up in a slight smile. "Okay then, get dressed, breakfast is already on the table." The seven year old girl said before leaving the room while making sure to close the door behind her.

Souji frowned as soon as he heard Nanako descend the stairs. He was somewhat surprised that Nanako had actually entered his room while he had been asleep. Of course he considered the very possible explanation that he didn't answer to her knocking. But there was the fleeting look of concern that he had caught in her eyes. Why would she care about him? As far as she was knew they had met only yesterday. Why would she be worried about him, a person who might as well be a complete stranger?

Souji sighed as he scratched his gray hair. "Too early for thinking…" He muttered before standing up to get dressed in his Yasogami High School uniform. After changing he moved out of his room and made his way to the bathroom.

Upon going into the upstairs bathroom with the intention of starting his morning routine Souji was slightly annoyed at seeing his appearance. 'Still the same as yesterday…' He thought to himself wishing that it was just a dream. Souji groaned as he placed his palms on the sink and leaned forward. Yesterday he had received some answers courtesy of Izanami, but there were still more questions, why was he younger? Why and how did his Shadow drag him back to this time, and what was going to happen next?

Souji allowed his thoughts to drift as he stared blankly at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He was most certain that even without the influence of Izanami Adachi would still commit his murders before tricking Namatame to do this work for him.

Souji scowled upon remembering Namatame's desperate escape into the Shadow World with Nanako. 'That won't happen, not this time.' Souji thought to himself as he swore to keep a close eye on his young cousin. He didn't blame Namatame; the guy had been but a pawn, more like a tool, of Adachi's. The person who Souji blamed was himself. If he had been smarter, or had done something differently maybe Nanako wouldn't have been held hostage and she might not have almost died. Thankfully she did heal, and by the time he had left the small rural town of Inaba she had been as she always was and the events of December with her being in the hospital were but a fading memory. 'I won't let anyone hurt Nanako-chan, not this time.' The teenager promised himself before moving to commence his morning routine.

* * *

School bag in hand Souji appeared at the bottom of the steps and walked over to the kitchen table while Nanako seated herself. Placing the school bag by his seat Souji glanced at Nanako who was slowly eating. He took a small bite of the eggs she had made. And to him at this moment any food Nanako made was considered better than a five star restaurant. It always brought a light smile to his face whenever his little sis made breakfast in the morning. Souji couldn't help but think of the times they had both cooked, he had even taught her a few things about cooking that she had yet to learn.

The gray haired student really did hope that he and his younger cousin could develop a similar relationship to what they had before. He really and truly did care about Nanako; to him she was more than the Justice Social Link. Nanako Dojima was the first member of his family who had ever made him feel at home, as if he actually belonged to a family, even if it was albeit a somewhat dysfunctional one.

Souji's expression became slightly sadden and he paused in eating. 'Family…' The time his uncle Dojima celebrated the day the three of them became a family was probably one of the fondest moments of his life. Souji could barely call his parents family; sure they made him, clothed him, and fed him. But they had never been there for him when he really needed them. He couldn't even remember the last time his mom or dad hugged him, or utter the words I love you to him.

Nanako stopped mid bite when she realized that Souji wasn't eating anymore. "What's wrong?" She asked slightly worried. "Is the cooking that bad?" She inquired suddenly feeling a little insecure.

Souji broke out of his thoughts and quickly shook his head. "Oh no, not that. It's good!" He spoke, his words somewhat fast. "It's just…" His voice became somewhat lower. "I was remembering something is all. Don't worry about it Nanako-chan, the food is good. Did you make it by yourself?" He asked despite already knowing the answer.

Nanako brighten up at his compliment. "Yeah, I might not know a lot, but I am really good at household chores and cooking." She said with large smile that easily showcased her pride at being good at something.

Souji nodded before he resumed eating. As the two eat their breakfast in silence Souji would, every now and then, look up to glance at Nanako. He wanted to start a conversation, but he couldn't exactly think up a good topic. He knew quite a bit about his little sis, but she knew nothing about him. As far as Nanako was concerned he was a complete stranger. Souji looked back down to his meal, for some reason he just couldn't think up a topic for him and Nanako to talk about.

'Damn it…' He grumbled in thought. This was his little sis, how could he not think of something for them to talk about? Well the easiest answer to that was that in her eyes he might as well be a complete stranger. For some reason that thought made a pang in his chest, closing his eyes he decided to count to five, if he couldn't think of anything to say by five then he'd just stay quiet and eat his meal in silence.

_One, two, three, four, fi-_

"Um." Nanako started out. "You should probably hurry and finish, school starts soon." Souji opened his eyes to see that his younger cousin had already finished her food and was now placing her plate into the sink. Souji looked down to see that he was only half way through his meal, glancing at the clock he deduced that he needed to be out of the house in at least the next few minutes if he wanted to be on time, and that was if he walked to school at a slightly faster than average pace. Souji started eating his food at an amazingly fast pace, and before long the food had all been devoured.

Souji stood up and deposited his dish into the sink alongside Nanako's. "Uh…" Souji turned to see Nanako putting her backpack on. "My school's on the way to yours, so…let's go together." Nanako said with a light hopeful smile.

Souji nodded as he grabbed his bag. "Okay, lead the way Nanako-chan."

* * *

Souji smiled lightly as he and Nanako entered the flood plains, the smell of the crisp clean air, the noise of students gossiping, it felt nice and a little nostalgic. The gray haired young man turned to his younger cousin who was telling him a little bit about her own school.

"-and at my school we don't have to wear uniforms." Nanako had been explaining random facts about her school throughout the whole walk. "But we usually have a lot of homework, and sometimes my teacher can be a bit strict." The dark haired girl informed her cousin who was listening to each and every word.

Souji gave a slight laugh. "I've had some pretty strict teachers too, last year my homeroom teacher was a complete-." Souji paused as he realized that he was talking Morooka-sensei aka King Moron, and also the fact that he had almost said, ass. "Jerk…" Souji quietly said as he remembered King Moron. While the gray haired youth disliked the teacher immensely that didn't mean that he wanted to see him dead again.

**But he doesn't have to die, no one has to die.**

A voice whispered in the back of Souji's mind. Souji nodded as he remembered that he now had the power to change the future. He knew of everything to come, and how things would happen it wouldn't be hard to make a few changes so that no one would have to die, and that thought brought a slight smile to Souji's face. 'Okay then.' The teenager thought to himself as he felt his brain starting to work. 'Who was Adachi's first vic-?'

"Uh, hey are you okay?" A slightly timid voice broke Souji's train of thought. The gray haired teen flinched slightly as he remembered that he was walking next to his cousin.

Souji stared at his younger cousin for a few seconds before hastily deciding to continue his earlier train of thought at a later time. "Yeah," Souji said a little awkwardly. "I just kinda spaced out." He admitted with a sheepish smile.

Nanako stared at him for a second before nodding. "Okay," She said while stopping, which caused Souji to stop in his tracks as well. "Just keep going down this path and you'll find Yasogami High," The pig tailed girl pointed behind her. "My school's over this way, so I'll see you later." The young girl promised before turning around and began walking towards the elementary school. Souji stared after his little cousin for a few seconds before continuing the walk to school.

The gray haired youth couldn't help but feel a tiny bit nostalgia as the high school came into view. While it looked nothing special to many, this school meant a good deal to the gray haired youth. It was the place where he was able to forge some of the most powerful relationships with the greatest people, and the warm memories of those people would always bring a light grin to the young teenager.

"Whoa! Look out!" A familiar, yet panicked, voice shouted. Souji had enough time to jump to the side as a brown haired youth sped past him and rammed into a series of garbage cans. Souji cringed slightly as he watched the brown haired teen barrel into the cans. "Help…" The brown haired student who was now stuck in a can weakly said as he rolled around on the ground.

Souji stifled a laugh as he watched his best friend, it was such a typical scene; Yosuke really needed a new bike. Just as he was about to walk past the student who was still stuck in the trash can a sudden realization popped in his head. 'I won't see him in class…' Souji paused in his steps and pulled out the piece of paper which held information on his classroom, shoe box assignment, and homeroom teacher. Class 1-2, Kurosaki-sensei not Class 2-2, Morooka-sensei.

Class 2-2 was where he met Yosuke, Chie, and Yukiko. Souji glanced towards the school then back at the poor kid still trapped in the tin can, being ignored by his fellow students. Souji's jaw tensed as he realized the odds of striking up a real friendship outside of class is low, he has to act now. His decision made, Souji spun on his heel and headed towards Yosuke.

"Is no one really going to help me?" The brown haired youth complained as he continued his struggle to free himself from the trash can. Suddenly the brown haired youth felt someone gripping the trash can he was currently stuck in. "Hello?" Yosuke called out uncertainly.

Souji smiled at his friend as he braced himself to pull the can off of him. "Don't worry; I'll have you out in just a sec." The gray haired teen said as he started to pull the can off.

Yosuke gave a sheepish laugh as he rubbed his messy brown hair which reeked due to having been caked with garbage. "Thanks for that." Yosuke spoke as he and his rescuer started moving towards the school. "Uh…" He paused in his words as he realized that he had yet to introduce himself to the gray haired youth. He extended his hand in a friendly gesture. "By the way, my name is Yosuke Hanamura class 2-2."He said as he stopped walking right in front of the gates where a series of students were now walking past the two youths.

Souji, who had also paused in his tracks, gave a light nod despite already knowing this information, but he had to feign ignorance for appearances sake. Giving his most sincere smile Souji introduced himself. "Nice to meet you, I'm Souji Seta; I'll be transferring into class-." He was cut off as the first warning bell sounded out.

Yosuke snapped his head towards the school and took note that he and Souji were the only people standing outside of the gates. "Oh man we're gonna be late, come on we need to hurry!" The brown haired youth called out as he lifted his bike up and started jogging alongside it.

Even at the gate there were no students in sight, but they weren't late just yet. "Alright there's still some time left." Yosuke muttered to himself as he and the new transfer student entered the building. As they were changing their shoes at the entrance Yosuke took this time to examine the newbie. Fairly tall, gray hair (Yosuke briefly wondered if he dyed It.), and somewhat pale complexion, he seemed to be above average in the looks department. 'Hell, he might even be able to capture the famous Yukiko-san's eye.' The brown haired youth uttered in thought impressed yet at the same time feeling a tinge of jealousy.

Yosuke turned away at that thought, where had that stab of jealousy come from? He wondered to himself before deciding to forget about it. Yosuke and Souji quickly changed their shoes and walked past the shoe racks. "So…" Yosuke started out as he quickly finished. "I'm guessing you're the new transfer student, where did you say you moved here from?" The teen started out somewhat awkwardly.

"From Tokyo," Souji answered simply. "My parents are both working overseas, and because they didn't want me to leave the country with them they decided to leave me at my uncle's place." He informed Yosuke before giving a slight sigh.

The brown haired teen nodded as he and Souji moved into the main part of the first year hallway. "I see," The headphones wearing student stated understandably. "Well I gotta admit that sucks, but I'm sure you'll like Inaba. This place is a complete one-eighty from the big city, but it's really peaceful."

Souji nodded as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "I can tell," He stated as he glanced around the hallway to see that there were almost no students around, and the ones that were happened to be rushing toward their classrooms.

Yosuke also noticed his fellow student's gaze. "Yeah we should probably hurry too…" Yosuke, having also noticed the vast number of students rushing to class, mumbled in agony as he remembered who his homeroom teacher was. "King Moron, just great." Yosuke moaned in annoyance. 'Of all the teachers, why'd it have to be him?!' He complained to the heavens above.

Souji couldn't help but smirk lightly at his companion's look of terror. "I'm going to assume that King Moron is a terrible teacher," Souji stated knowingly much to Yosuke's annoyance.

Yosuke didn't even try to keep from snorting. "That's the understatement of the year." The brown haired teen grumbled as he moved to go up the stairs. "Well Souji I'll see ya later, you should probably head for your class the bell's gonna ring any-"

As if mocking Yosuke the school bell chimed once, twice, three times. "Oh crap!" Yosuke cried out as he dashed up the stairs.

Souji shook his head lightly as he watched his friend quickly stumble up the stairs. Once the brown haired teen was out of sight Souji turned and headed down the hallway.

* * *

Just as Souji arrived at his new homeroom class he heard the pounding of quick footfalls behind him. Just as Souji turned on his heel to investigate as to who felt the need to be running at such a fast pace he felt someone collide into him. "Oof!" He grunted while taking a step back in order to steady his balance.

His attacker shrieked as she realized that she had hit someone. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, it's just that I was in a big hurry, and I'm already running lat-!" The final bell rung that morning, formally sending class into session. "Oh crap!" The girl, forgetting about the gray haired student, cried out in alarm before moving to open the door that Souji was standing in front of.

Suddenly before the girl could pry open the door it slid open from the inside. Souji noticed an older man on the other side. He had dark brown hair with a few strands of silver in it, his eyes were black and filled with years of experience, and his lips were in a slight smirk as his eyes fell upon the girl who stood at the door looking at the older man with a sheepish smile. "Can't say this is a surprise. Considering how late you usually were in junior high," He said to the girl as though this was a usual occurrence.

"Haha, funny story about that sensei…" The girl trailed off as the man, obviously the teacher of class 1-2, stepped aside.

"Just go to your seat, I'll let it slide this once." He stated before turning his attention onto Souji. "You must be the new transfer student, Souji Seta?" At Souji's nod of acknowledgement the older man continued. "Well I'm Tsukasa Kurosaki, you're homeroom teacher for this year." He said as the girl hurried to her seat.

"Nice to meet you Kurosaki-sensei." Souji politely said as he mentally sighed in content. Already his first impression of this teacher was a hundred times, no a thousand times better than when he had met Morooka-sensei. Souji was then ushered in by the teacher who led him to the front of the class, the moment the students of Class 1-2 caught sight of this unfamiliar gray haired student as he walked to the front of the room all sounds of gossiping students had ceased for they were all watching him.

The eyes of each and every student was on him, already having been in this position before Souji felt no embarrassment at being the center of attention. With a deep breath he introduced himself to the class. "I'm Souji Seta; I'll be with you all for this year, please take care of me." The gray hair teen politely said before giving a light bow.

The class's reaction to Souji's words, which had been filled with politeness and confidence, was almost instantaneous. A majority of the females who were single were already gushing over how polite and how nice he seemed while a number of male students felt either inspired to be more like this 'confident transfer student' or they were just plain envious of the attention he was receiving.

"Alright that's enough." Kurosaki-sensei called out to his excited class. "You can all pester Seta during the break, until then let's get started. Seta," The teacher started out as he turned to glass at the gray haired student. "You can take a seat next to the other tardy student, the girl in the middle." He informed while pointing at the same girl who had nearly knocked Souji over that morning. "Maybe you can try keeping her awake during the lesson." He joked with a slight chuckle.

Souji nodded before walking through three rows of students before arriving at his seat. The girl who would be sitting next to him looked up at Souji before offering a smile, more out of politeness than anything, before shifting her gaze onto the teacher who was now taking attendance.

* * *

The day's lessons were laughably easy for Souji to grasp as he had learned this material before. If anything it only felt like a review. Of course though despite his advanced knowledge over the subjects that were taught in class today Souji kept his answering of questions to a minimum and even purposely got a few wrong as not to appear too above average.

The first real notable event that happened was during the first passing period when Souji's desk was assaulted by a series of first year students who were quite enthusiastic to learn about their new classmate. Souji was slightly surprised at the student's enthusiasm, maybe the majority of first year Yasogami High students have an abundance of energy. 'Guess it might make sense why Rise-chan and Kanji were always so lively.' Souji thought with a light sweat drop as he did his best answer people's questions about where he was from and why he was in a town like Inaba.

Souji also took note as to how the girl who sat next to him didn't ask any questions or even attempt to strike up a conversation with him; in fact she hadn't said a word since being told to sit down by Kurosaki-sensei. Suddenly the bell rang prompting all of the students to hastily return to their seats before their first period of the day started.

The day almost seemed to be on fast forward for Souji, it wasn't until lunch that Souji allowed himself to stand and stretch his legs. Souji sighed as he stared at the clock, the lunch bell had just rung and he had around thirty minutes to eat. He didn't bother with making a lunch last night as it might appear rude to just suddenly start using his uncle's kitchen without permission from Ryotaro or Nanako, and also he was certain that they most likely needed to go shopping.

"Guess I'll just have to make do with what's in the cafeteria." Souji said to himself as he reached into his pocket for his wallet. 'Oh crap…' Souji thought to himself as he pulled out nothing but air and lint from his pocket. He had forgotten his wallet that morning. 'Since when do I forget my wallet?' The gray haired Persona-user thought to himself in alarm as he realized that he wouldn't be able to eat anything until he came home.

Sure Souji could admit that he wouldn't die from having to go without eating for a good while, but despite knowing that he'd live didn't make him thrilled at having to go hungry until after school. Suddenly he felt someone tapping his shoulder, turning he looked into the bright eyes of the girl who sat next to him. "Um…if you want I could buy you something at the cafeteria." Apparently she had noticed him agonizing over the lack of his wallet. "You can pay me back tomorrow." The girl stated with a light smile which plus a growling stomach made it hard for Souji to refuse.

As the two walked towards the cafeteria the girl turned to Souji. "By the way, Seta-kun, since I already know you're name I might as well introduce myself." She started out and waited for the boy to turn his gray eyes on her. "My name is Yuzu Sasaki." The girl said with a warm smile as she extended her hand for Souji to shake. "You can just call me Yuzu, if you like." Yuzu added after a few seconds as Souji shook her hand.

Souji nodded at her words and responded. "Nice to meet you Yuzu-san, thank you for not letting me go hungry today." Souji said with a light chuckle.

Yuzu's cheeks puffed at that. "Hey you don't need to add san at the end of my name that's way too formal." She said somewhat annoyed. "Just Yuzu is fine, okay?" She asked hoping that he'd go along with it as she didn't care much for people tacking on suffixes to her name. Though apparently she had no problem with tacking them onto other people's names.

"Okay," The gray haired teen was uncertain but decided to go along with his classmate's wishes. "Then you have to call me Souji." Souji didn't feel right at her having him refer to her by her first name if she was going to continue referring to him in a formal manner, it would just feel weird.

"That sounds good to me, Souji-kun." Yuzu said as she shoved her hands into her skirt pockets.

It didn't take long for the duo to reach the cafeteria; thankfully many students had already purchased their food and had been seated. So it didn't take very long for the two teens to grab their food and find their seats. "Yeah the stuff here is pretty gross." Yuzu commented as she noticed Souji grimace after a single bite.

Souji shook it off and shoved another chopstick full of rice into his mouth. "It's still a lot better than my old school." He muttered while eating. He had only eaten this stuff once or twice; usually if he didn't have time to make a lunch he'd buy something from the nearby convenience store in the shopping district.

Souji paused in his eating as he took a moment to study the girl sitting across from him. From the year he had spent in Inaba before he couldn't remember having ever seen this girl in the hallways, nor did he see her around town. 'Yet…' As he examined her appearance, dark brown hair that went just past her shoulders, soft hazel eyes which held a tinge of warmth in them, she felt somewhat familiar to him; maybe he had seen her in the hallways or something before but just never bothered to pay her any mind.

That seemed to be the most likely case. 'Pretty understandable considering the stuff that was happening last year.' Souji thought to himself as he allowed the three murders and several kidnappings to flash through his mind.

Suddenly he felt an arm wrap around his shoulder. "Oh, I wouldn't have thought the new transfer student was one to move so fast," The slightly excited voice of Yosuke Hanamura filled Souji's ears. "First day and you already have a pretty girl by your side? Dude what's your secret?" The brown haired teen teased with a laugh before placing his tray on the table and taking a seat next to Souji.

The Persona-user was slightly surprised at Yosuke's intrusion, but it most certainly wasn't an unwelcomed one. "Bath every day." Souji sarcastically said as he rolled his eyes. Meanwhile Yuzu's eyes had widened into saucers in surprise at the new arrival.

Yosuke chuckled before taking a bite of the food he had brought with him. "Dude," He started out to the gray haired student who picked up a hint of seriousness in his voice. "Thanks for your help earlier," The brown haired teen said honestly grateful for Souji pulling him out of the trash. "If you hadn't of come around who knows how late I would have been this morning." He commented between mouth full's of ramen. "Too bad that King Moron still bitched at me." The teen with fluffy brown hair grumbled.

Yuzu raised an eyebrow at Souji who introduced the two to each other before explaining what had occurred before she bumped into him. "Oh I see…" The brunette uttered before letting out a giggle. "Wish I had came by earlier. It would have been pretty interesting to see you with your head in a trash can." The girl said with a slight snicker, much to Yosuke's dismay.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh at my pain, why don't you?" Yosuke said slightly annoyed. Then he turned to Souji, his expression slightly more relaxed. "By the way, this might come as a surprise to you, but you're already a celebrity here." Yosuke informed Souji, thus changing the conversation, but found that he was frowning nonetheless. "Even people in my class have been talking about ya, kinda makes me jealous." He said jokingly but at the same time somewhat serious.

"Maybe the reason why Souji-kun is more popular than you is because he actually has some decency." A familiar, to Souji and Yosuke, voice sounded out. The two boys turned to see Chie Satonaka, dressed in the Yasogami High School uniform plus a bright green jacket, coming their way with a slightly burnt out looking Yukiko Amagi in tow. Souji had to resist the urge to smile as he noticed her in her usual school attire red cardigan, school uniform, and black stockings.

It was pleasantly surprising to see two more of his old friends from the investigation team; even if they all didn't remember him Souji couldn't help but feel happy. The gray haired Persona-user took a moment to clear his throat as he had to remember not to appear familiar with the two girls. "How do you know who I am?" He asked, pretending that he had never met them before in his life.

Chie gave Souji a friendly punch on the shoulder before plopping down next to the fluffy brown haired teen. "Well like the heir of the Junes Empire over here said," Chie started out while pointing at the annoyed brunette. "You're the talk of the school, Mr. polite and confident. Seriously I can't go into the hallway without hearing someone talking about you." Yukiko nodded in confirmation from her seat next to Chie.

Souji, honestly, was slightly surprised at this. He remembered how his arrival had ignited a bit of talk from his fellow students before eventually dying down due to murders and kidnappings, but he didn't remember being this famous on his first day at Yasogami High School. "Sorry about that." Souji told the short haired girl with an impish smile.

Chie paused for a second in order to tell if Souji was seriously apologizing. "Oh you have nothing to be sorry for, not your fault that the students in Inaba are so desperate for something new." The green jacket wearing girl stated. "Just give it a week or two and the masses will be gossiping about something else." The girl promised with a grin.

Souji chuckled at this before returning to eat the rest of his food. "Dude I don't know how you can eat that crap." Yosuke muttered as Souji started eating some of the curry.

Souji turned to Yosuke before swallowing the food in his mouth. "It's not that hard, I just hope that you all have an ambulance on speed dial incase I need to have my stomach pumped."

Yosuke sniggered slightly at that. "Yeah the cafeteria food is pretty terrible. At least the ramen's decent, even if it is a bit bland."

"Hmm." Yuzu nodded before turning to talk with Chie and Yukiko. "By the way, I never got your names, I'm Yuzu Sasaki and I'm in the same class as Souji." She told both girls who wasted no time in introducing themselves.

"Amagi?" The brown haired first year reiterated in surprise at learning raven haired girl's name. "Oh cool, I've been to the springs before, the Amagi inn is pretty nice Yukiko-senpai." Yuzu said in a cheery voice which Chie complied in agreeing with while Yukiko just looked slightly uncomfortable at hearing about her family's inn, though it's not like anyone noticed, save for Souji due to his extensive knowledge of the Yukiko's true feelings regarding the family's inn.

Conversation between the five teens was minimal after that point. Eventually they all finished their food and headed back to their respective classes before the the bell could ring.

* * *

After the final bell rang Souji sat up and stretched his tired muscles. The last class of the day had become so boring that halfway through he had decided to take a nap which could have lasted for a few hours had it not been for the school bell, and the constant shaking of Yuzu Sasaki.

She allowed a small grin to breakthrough as she noticed that he was coming around. "I wouldn't have pegged you for a heavy sleeper." She commented while gathering her books and bag. "I thought Kurosaki-sensei told you to keep _me_ awake." Yuzu teased before chuckling at the gray haired student whose only retort was the roll of his eyes. "Oh the irony." The brown haired girl commented in a fake haughty tone.

Souji, who had only just now begun to collect his things, spoke up. "Oh shut up." He ordered the girl before standing up with a reluctant smile.

Yuzu gave him a teasing grin before grabbing the rest of her stuff. "Well Souji-kun, I gotta go! See ya tomorrow!" She shouted before making a beeline for the door.

After a few moments of semi-silence Souji finished packing up his stuff and moved to exit the classroom when suddenly the PA system buzzed to life. "Attention all teachers," Souji's posture froze mid-step. "Please report immediately to the Faculty Office for a brief staff meeting. All students must remain in their classrooms and are not permitted to leave the school until further notice." The intercom then clicked off with an inaudible pop.

Souji's face was one of horror and disbelief as he remembered what this incident signified, how could he have forgotten? Seriously, how could he have forgotten that the first murder occurred right on the night he had arrived in Inaba? How did someone forget something so fricken important!? Just how?! Souji's eyes dropped to his feet in shame at forgetting a simple detail which could have saved a life. 'How could I forget something so fucking important?!' Souji wanted to scream out to the heavens but wisely bit his tongue.

As soon as the teacher informed everyone to stay in their seats before leaving the classroom the room erupted in gossip.

"What's going on?"

"Why do we have to stay here?"

"Darn I should have bolted like Yuzu-chan as soon as the bell rang; now I'm going to miss my show…"

Suddenly a student pointed towards the window. "Damn look how foggy it is." The teenager commented as he stared out the window.

"Are those police lights?" A girl with pigtails inquired as she pressed her face to the cool glass in order to get a better view, which failed horribly.

A boy with thin rimmed glasses watched on in wonder. "What happened?" He asked while adjusting his glasses. "Damn, it's so hard to see with all this fog…" He muttered under his breath while still trying to get a good view of the police cars that were passing the school.

Souji gritted his teeth as he continued to berate himself for not being able to prevent the first murder, because of his inaction Mayumi Yamano was dead, killed by her own Shadow. His hand gripped into a fist as he glanced out towards the window which was crowded by a number of his fellow classmates who had heard the sirens of police cars. 'The fog is settling back in.' Souji thought grimly as he continued to watch the students stare in fascination at the foggy world.

Soon the PA system came on and the principal advised all of the students to call their parents or guardians and then to vacate the premises immediately. Souji sighed as he slung his bag over his shoulder before quickly stalking out of the door.

Nearly all of the other students were slower than him as they had decided to either keep on staring at the window or to slowly pull their cell phones out and call their parents. The gray haired student didn't pay them any mind; he simply carried on and left the room.

Souji sighed as he felt the energy just suddenly evaporate from his body, feeling suddenly exhausted he leaned on the shoe rack for a few minutes as he tried to figure out how he could forget such an important detail like when Mayumi was pushed into the TV. 'Last night, last night, if I had thought about it I could have saved her, I could have gone in late last night through the family TV in the living room and then…' Then what?

When Souji really thinks about it he doesn't know what he could do. Sure he could have gone in last night or even early this morning, pulled her out, but then what? 'No, why? Why didn't I think about it? Why couldn't I have paused for a second to save her?' Because he didn't have the time, people's eyes had been on him since he woke up on that train yesterday. If he had tried leaving to head to Junes yesterday Ryotaro would have gotten suspicious, and he probably would have to come clean which no one would believe something so crazy.

**That's not a reason,**

An eerily familiar voice whispered in his ear. Souji suddenly felt a very cold shiver run up his spine as the voice sounded just like Tohru Adachi.

**You're a lot more like me than you think; it's all a game to you, and you wanted to replay the game.**

Souji felt his body tremble as he refused to accept that. It wasn't true, being a Persona-user, part of the Investigation Team isn't and was never a game to him. He had fought to protect his friends and the lives of every innocent person who got involved.

_**Are you sure?**_

The voice suddenly had a scratchy noise mixed into it, almost like the voice of his Shadow. "I am." Souji answered firmly as he stood up straight. "I don't want anyone to die; I wouldn't gamble with people's lives like that, I am _nothing _like Adachi." Souji stated as his resolve became stronger.

Souji relaxed as the voice faded from the recess of his mind. '…' Scratching his head he sighed and changed his shoes.

"Alright let's go." He said before moving to exit the building. At this point a lot more students had filled up the first floor as they too were leaving the building.

"This is for my DVD!" A familiar and pissed off voice shouted.

Souji snapped his head back to see an angry kung fu fighter by the name of Chie Satonaka chasing one Yosuke Hanamura down the stairs. "I didn't mean to do it, it was an accident! I swear!" The brown haired boy shouted up to the crazy woman. And then, Yosuke Hanamura went flying.

Somehow while running away from the short haired woman Yosuke had tripped over his two feet and while he tripped he had half of his body turned to face the crazy female who was still chasing him. So while in mid air, and heading for the floor, Yosuke's body turned so that when he fell he landed on his back, hard. "Oof!" He grunted in pain.

With a scowl on her features Chie Satonaka shot her foot out, it found its target. "Heeyah!" Chie shouted as she landed her revenge strike.

Yosuke's body tensed up as he suffered through intense pain. "Critical hit to the nads…" He squeaked while clutching his abused parts, unable to breath. And then his eyes rolled up and he was taken in by the black void of sleep.

Souji could only watch on in amazement at this spectacle. He had never seen Yosuke receive such punishment. 'Shit, I am _never _pissing off Chie.' The gray haired teen wisely decided as Yukiko came down the stairs to view the aftermath in horror.

"So," Chie started out as she wiped the dust off her skirt. "Wanna walk home, Souji-kun?" She asked in a somewhat fake sweet voice.

Souji could only offer a nervous smile that didn't do well to hide his slight fear. "Sure, senpai." He said as he followed the two girls.

* * *

**Okay let me just say a few things about this chapter, one the first part where Souji is having his dream that involves Izanagi and his Shadow I kinda based it loosely on the parts where Ichigo, from Bleach, faces his Hollow. That was kinda what inspired it, so credit due is where credit is due or however the saying goes. And also know for a fact that usually I **_**hate**_** OCs with a passion, but for this story to work in the way I want it to Yuzu is absolutely necessary. And before anyone asks no she WILL not become some sort of Mary-sue but she will be important to the story. Whether or not she'll become a Persona-user if she already isn't (note I am not confirming anything) will remain unknown to others. **

**With that out of the way I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I know it's a bit long overdue and I'm sorry it took so long to get out. Just don't expect the next update to be any quicker. And please review. **


	3. Never Again

**Well it's been a while, but I hope this long chapter made it worth the wait. I want to thank all those who have reviewed, faved, or even just simply read this story. I'm glad that its being as well received as it is. And I hope that more and more people enjoy it. So without further ado here is the next chapter.**

Distorted Reflections

Chapter Three: Never Again

* * *

Souji, after having recovered from his momentary lapse of fear for Chie Satonaka, did his best to participate in the conversation with Chie and Yukiko (technically Chie as she was the only one really talking). He was slightly surprised to see that the conversation was going fairly similar except that during the few times he had to make a reference to Yosuke or the two girls present he had to remember to tact on the suffix senpai to their names.

Other than a few incidents where Souji messed up and referred to Chie by her given name conversation flowed smoothly up until the point the group of students reached the murder scene. Immediately after passing by the fields they spotted a series of police cars lined up near a series of buildings. The flashes of red and blue in the fog were annoyingly bright. "What's going on over there?" Chie wondered out loud, while Yukiko silently watched on with a questioning look on her face.

The trio walked up to the scene, Souji's eyes narrowed as he stared up at the antenna. 'This is slightly different.' He thought to himself in surprise as he watched a fireman gently handle the mangled and battered corpse that was once Mayumi Yamano.

Even Souji couldn't help but cringe as he watched them pull down the dead body. Even with the fog making it extremely difficult to see the body, Souji knew that without a doubt that it was Mayumi Yamano and that he had not saved her. 'It's my fault.' He thought to himself. 'I could have done something…' His dark thoughts continued as he bit his lip.

A loud gasp from his side snapped him out of his thoughts. "Oh my god!" Chie hissed out as she was finally able to see the body above the fog. The gray haired teen glanced over at the short haired girl who had an expression of shock and disgust. "Someone hung a dead body up there? Who would do such a thing?" She asked while Yukiko looked away in horror at the thought of seeing the corpse.

"That's what we'd like to figure out." A familiar voice, one that Souji remembered quite vividly, said. Turning the three students saw a young man in his late twenties, his brown hair was slightly unkempt and his white collared shirt was wrinkled to hell, as was his blazer and red tie that hung loosely around his neck.

Souji silently regarded the older man with a look of surprise that slowly turned into one of false indifference. 'Adachi…' He thought to himself while clenching his hands into fist as he remembered how the older man had caused so much pain and grief to people he cared about.

Just as Souji opened his mouth to speak the ace detective he found himself being interrupted by the elder male. "Pretty crazy, to hang a dead body up in broad daylight, you'd have to be pretty gutsy to do something like that." Adachi turned his gaze on Souji, locking his eyes onto the gray haired students. "You can only wonder how the perpetrator didn't get caught, huh?" Adachi asked Souji who remained silent. Seeing that the younger male wasn't going to speak he sighed in resignation. "I should probably go find the slave driver…" Adachi Tohru said more to himself than to the three students who had remained quiet throughout the entire interaction.

As the dark haired detective passed by Souji he flashed him a small malice-filled grin before his lips went into a neutral frown. The gray haired teen felt his heart leap into his throat as he instantly realized what this meant. 'He knows…' He thought to himself while resisting the urge to turn and watch Adachi disappear into the fog. 'There's no doubt that he and my Shadow are working together.' Souji assured himself as a bit the left side of his cheek.

His Shadow had already contacted the older Persona-user, how much his Shadow told him Souji could only speculate, but Souji knew that Adachi at the very least knew that Souji was a Persona-user and a threat to him. What the older man would do with this knowledge, he could only speculate. Adachi wasn't very predictable, yet Souji knew that he wouldn't try to get rid of him anytime soon. 'He loves his _games_ too much.' The gray haired teen thought cynically.

"Hey! What are you three doing here?!" Ryotaro Dojima's booming voice quickly brought Souji out of his thoughts. Turning to look over at where the squad cars were parked he saw his uncle jogging towards him and the two girls. Souji gulped slightly as he quickly and tactfully recomposed himself.

"We're just on our way home." Souji answered politely to which Ryotaro snapped his attention away and swore under his breath.

"Listen," Souji's uncle started out somewhat more tranquil. "Just quickly pass by, and go straight home." Dojima calmly yet firmly ordered the three high school students. "Okay?" His words left zero room for disagreement.

Souji nodded which prompted the elder man to look around. "Now where did Adachi run off to?" He questioned himself slightly annoyed at his partner.

Souji gave an awkward cough before pointing down the direction Adachi had gone down. "If you mean the guy in the suit, he went down that way." The gray haired teen calmly informed his uncle who nodded before running off to find his partner.

Souji looked over at the two girls to see that they were slightly disturbed. They hadn't even said a word since before running into Adachi. Seeing that the only male of their group had turned his eyes on them, Chie spoke up in a hesitant voice. "Perhaps we should go to Junes later, right Yukiko?" The short haired teen asked her friend who nodded wholeheartedly.

"Yeah…" She quietly answered before stepping forward followed by Chie who turned and offered a wave to Souji while walking backwards. "See ya tomorrow Souji-kun!" She, her voice having regained a bit of its vigor back, called out before jogging to catch up to her best friend.

Souji offered a courteous wave before turning to go down his own path home. As he made his trek home Souji noted the increased number of people all standing outside, he could distinctly hear gossip concerning the recently discovered dead body whose identity quickly became known as the announcer woman who had recently gone under fire for her affair with Taro Namatame. Souji was thankful that he didn't have to endure listening to talk about the victim he couldn't save, didn't save, for he arrived home in a matter of minutes.

* * *

The gray haired student suddenly felt like the world had just dumped all of its weight onto his shoulders, he felt drained. Kicking off his shoes at the door before closing it behind him with a soft click, Souji took slow deliberate steps as he made his way to the stairs before going up to his temporary room in the Dojima house.

His movements were mechanical and artificial, as if he were on auto-pilot. Souji's brain started to repeat a single word. Now that he was completely alone he felt the events of today trying to crush him. And he hated this feeling, the feeling having failed. 'Damn. Damn. Damn. Damn! Damn!' He punched the right side wall halfway up the stairs. Thankfully his blow didn't leave any marks or indication that he had hit anything, though his right fist sure did sting like hell. "Damn!" He hissed out.

Upon walking into his room the first thing Souji did was throw himself onto his blue sofa like a sack of potatoes. Turning over he placed his head on one end and closed his eyes tightly. _Why didn't I save her?_ Those were the words that were on the tip of his tongue. Souji honestly hadn't remembered when the female announcer fell into the TV. So much had happened throughout the year and also it had been a while since the Investigation Team had solved the case so naturally he had placed the deaths of Mayumi Yamano and Saki Konishi to the back of his mind.

A pair of dark gray eyes snapped open. 'Saki Konishi.' Souji thought to himself before sitting right up. "The second victim, Yosuke's senpai." He muttered as he thought about the senior he had only met one time before her tragic end at the hands of Tohru Adachi. "Most likely she still came upon the body first, so Adachi will still throw her into the TV." Souji said out loud to himself as he stared at his door. He clenched both of his fists, this time he would react; as soon as Saki was in the Shadow World Souji would spring into action, he wouldn't allow someone else to die when he had the power to save them.

Suddenly a young feminine voice brought him out of his thoughts. "I'm home!" The voice of Souji's younger cousin called out as she entered the home she shared with her workaholic father and teenaged cousin.

Souji sighed as he heard his younger cousin's voice; while he did feel a little better now that he felt determined to save Saki he still couldn't help but feel bad that he had saved Mayumi. Perhaps spending a little time with his cousin would get his mind off of the deceased announcer. "I'm up here!" The gray haired teen called down to his little cousin as he stood up and exited his room before going down the stairs to greet his younger cousin. "Welcome home." Souji greeted as he walked into the small living room.

Nanako had offered a weak smile as the gray haired youth, still dressed in his school uniform, welcomed her home. The two sat down over at the table in the living room, each with a drink in hand. While she did appear to be a little worn out, Souji briefly wondered if she knew about what had happened but put it to the back of his mind. "So tell me," Nanako started out as she widened her smile. "How as your first day at your new school?"

Souji took a slight sip of his drink before answering. "It was nice, Yasogami is defiantly smaller than my old school in the city, but it's not bad. I met a few interesting people today." Souji said with a light smile before retelling the events of how Yosuke crashed into a trash can on his bike.

"Oh," Nanako grimaced slightly at hearing how Yosuke was stuck in the can but at the same time she found it hard to keep from giggling while picturing the event. "Was he okay?" The concerned side of her asked.

He allowed a tiny smile. "Other than a bruised ego, he's fine." Souji answered prior to disclosing the rest of the events of the day, though he did make sure to leave out certain things, such as Yosuke taking a critical hit to the nads and seeing the aftermath of the crime scene.

* * *

As their conversation dwindled Nanako turned on the TV and the two minors relaxed as some sitcom came on. Souji couldn't help but smile as he saw a familiar face in the show. Apparently Rise Kujikawa appeared as a guest start in this show. She looked mostly as Souji remembered her, though her hair was a little shorter and instead of her usual pigtails her hair had been let down, and of course the idol appeared to be younger than she currently was.

Upon originally moving to Inaba Souji barely even knew who Rise or Risette was. Sure he had seen the commercials where she'd advertise that weird drink(Poison?) that was claimed to make a person skinny, which according to Rise doesn't work, and that was about all Souji had known about Rise. Of course though after the events of her being thrown into the TV world, facing her Shadow, and joining the Investigation Team as their support Souji had no problem saying that she is an important person in his life that he would gladly lay his life on the line for just as he would for all of the members of the Investigation Team.

Apparently Souji wasn't the only one pleased to see Rise on the TV screen. "Oh it's Rise-chan!" Nanako said slightly happy to see a show that Rise was involved in.

The gray haired student directed a slight smile at his little cousin. "You like Rise?" Souji asked to which the young girl beamed at him.

She nodded. "I love Rise-chan," Nanako declared with a wide smile.

Souji chuckled at Nanako's answer. But to his slight surprise Nanako changed the channel with a tiny pout on her face. "But dad won't let me watch this show. Says that I'm too young…" She muttered whilst channel surfing before ultimately deciding to stoop on the local news.

After a few minutes of channel surfing, which resulted in nothing of real interest to watch, the duo eventually decided on just turning it to the local news station. While the two cousins halfheartedly watched the news, the weatherman was just wrapping up with a forecast of the next week, Nanako let out a slightly depressed sigh. "I wonder if dad's coming home tonight." She said out loud to no one in particular.

Souji perked up in attention as death of Mayumi was mentioned in the news that night Souji's lips turned down in a frown as he saw a picture of the announcer when she was alive, he will admit that he is still mentally kicking himself for not remembering that she was pushed in on the exact night that he had arrived to Inaba. 'I'm sorry.' Souji thought to himself before looking away.

The rest of the news played out with making a mention of the Inaba Police department which prompted Nanako to turn the volume up. Souji rolled his eyes as the news reporter announced that the authorities weren't sure if the incident was an accident or a homicide.

He knew that in this sort of town murders weren't very common, but seriously? 'How does someone accidently die on a telephone pole?' Souji mentally asked in a cynically fashion. Soon the news report ended on the note that the thick fog that is enveloping the area will slow the police's progress in canvassing the area.

As soon as the news report ended Nanako's shoulders slumped forward. "They found her hanging from the roof?" She questioned slightly alarmed. "That's scary…" Nanako muttered more to herself as an afterthought.

Souji only gave a slight grunt of agreement in response before glancing at the television which had gone to commercial, one that happened to feature Nanako's favorite place in Inaba. "Oh, it's Junes!" Nanako, all worry and fear void from her tone, sounded excitedly as she glued her eyes to the screen.

"Everyday's great at you're Junes!" Nanako sang along with the TV.

Souji broke his gaze from the television to see that Nanako was looking at him expectedly. He playfully rolled his eyes before opening his mouth. "You're Junes!" He responded to which Nanako laughed.

"You memorized it already?" The young girl asked slightly surprised but happy nonetheless. "I'm the best one in my class!" Nanako proudly proclaimed.

Ryotaro Dojima didn't come home in time for dinner, in fact he wasn't even home by the time Nanako went to bed, even as Souji laid in his futon he had yet to hear the sound of his uncle entering the house, before he knew it he had drifted off to a room filled with velvet.

* * *

Upon opening his eyes Souji was met with a very intriguing sight. "Welcome to the Velvet Room!" A familiar voice excitedly said. Souji turned his gaze on the tiny old man dressed in a suit. "I'd introduce myself, but I believe that we have already been acquainted, isn't that right Souji Seta?" Igor asked, his eyes wide yet honestly pleased to see the former holder of the wild card.

Souji paused for a moment before speaking, the Velvet Room felt different, and it wasn't a good different. What had once been the interior of a fine limousine was only now and open area surrounded by a thick purple mist. Even the love seat that Igor had once sat on was long gone; instead the elderly man was now seated on a cardboard box and had adjusted the majority of his weight forward onto his cane. The table that had once been placed in between the two looked as though something heavy had fallen on it and was now broken into splintered pieces, also Margaret was nowhere to be seen.

The teenaged Persona-user paused in assessing the room's new look to turn his attention onto the man in front of him. "Igor?" Souji questioned in a cautious tone. "What's happened to the Velvet Room?" His voice began to rise as he questioned the man who could hold all of the answers. "Where's Margaret? What the heck is going on?" Souji's voice echoed in the empty space of the Velvet Room.

Igor placed a single hand up in a gesture that told Souji to calm down. After Souji took a deep breath and a few seconds of more deep relaxing breathing did he speak in a much more eased matter. "Igor, please I need answers. Tell me, what's going on?" Souji pleaded.

Igor finally spoke. "The Velvet Room reflects the spiritual state of its current guest, this room has taken many different forms, and I'm afraid to say that this is the most dreadful yet." Igor stated mournfully as he looked around the foggy area.

Souji glanced around as well; the place didn't look very amazing or extravagant. But it didn't look too bad…"I'm confused." He admitted as he turned his sight back to Igor. "What happened?" The teen questioned.

Igor sighed and then he tapped his cane on the ground two times and the fog started to recede, as the Velvet Room became clearer and clearer Souji's eyes widened in horror at the state of it. The Velvet Room now looked like a tiny apartment living room, with another smashed table that was upturned, smashed chairs, and broken glass littered the floor. "This is but a Distorted Reflection of the Velvet Room." Igor stated to Souji. "When the wild card was ripped from your grasp, so were your many Personas, and because they were forcibly taken you're soul suffered some damage which is mirrored by the state of this room." The cane wielding man explained.

He was still taking all of this in, but Souji was always good at being able to take things in stride so he had no problem with digesting this information before asking another question. "What about Margaret?" Souji questioned once he had regained his voice. "Where is she?"

Igor gave off a faint chuckle. "My assistant is away on business; unfortunately she won't be back for some time." Igor explained without offering to tell Souji exactly what Margaret was doing.

Souji closed his eyes as he took a moment to digest Igor's words. After a moment of calming deep breaths did Souji reopen his eyes. "Igor, nothing happens in this room for a reason, right? So that means that means that you summoned me because there's something I need to know or do." He stated knowingly.

Igor smiled at the boy in front of him. "Perceptive as ever, it comes as no surprise to me that you solved the previous mystery laid before you." He complimented the youth. "Yes, you were summoned for a reason, much has happened in such a short span of time. And you're Shadow has already stacked the deck in his favor." Igor stated slightly worried. "As you are now, you'd stand absolutely no chance against your Shadow should you decide to face your Shadow head on, I fear of the mental and physical ramifications you would most undoubtedly suffer." Igor's eyes actually held a tiny bit of concern for the gray haired teen.

Souji tensed his jaw at hearing those words. Somehow he had certain feeling that he wouldn't be able to handle facing his Shadow head on very soon, but to hear it confirmed unnerved him to some extent. Sighing to himself he leaned forward while closing his eyes and picturing his Shadow. Pale face, crazy yellow eyes, and that large smirk.

Igor, seeing that the young boy had become deep in thought, waited a moment before speaking again. "One more thing, Souji Seta," The words snapped Souji's mind back to the current conversation. "Another important matter I should bring up is the wild card. The power to use multiple Persona was you're greatest assist during you're previous journey, I am afraid to say that should you defeat you're Shadow and attempt to reclaim the wild card that you will never be able to use it again."

Souji's eyes widened to saucers at that last sentence. This was indeed most surprising, never allowed to summon his many other Persona? Why? How? "What?" The gray haired teen questioned in shock. "I…I can never use the wild card again?" He questioned not believing his ears.

The elderly man leaned forward. "I'm afraid so, when the wild card leaves the custody of one whether by force or will, the previous owner is never allowed to utilize its powers again." Igor stated with an apologetic yet sad smile.

Souji mentally groaned while scratching his head in frustration. "This is insane." He simply uttered while slumping. After a minute or so passed he leaned forward for a second before blowing a stray strand of hair out of his face. He still had a few more questions he wanted to ask but just as he was about to speak he found himself being interrupted by Igor.

Igor's dark eyes had widened by a slight fraction as if something had just occurred to him. "I'm afraid that we don't have much more time to talk Souji Seta. Time approaches in the outside world, but should you ever seek guidance or words of advice you should know that you will always be welcomed in the Velvet Room." Igor stated with a friendly smile as Souji's vision blacked out.

As soon as Souji regained awareness the first thing he realized was that his alarm was going off. Quickly Souji rolled over and reached for his cell phone, pressing a single button the annoying ringing ceased. Souji gave a light groan as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, checking the time on his phone he realized that if he wanted to get to school on time he'd have to get up and start getting ready now.

Once he had gotten dressed and freshened up he had quickly gone down stairs to see Nanako placing the last dish on the table. Souji walked over and took a seat across from Nanako's. "Morning," He greeted the younger girl while stifling a yawn.

Nanako gave her older cousin smiled in reply as she also took her seat. "Good morning," She replied before the two dug into their food.

Evidently Nanako's father didn't get in till really late last night and he was still sleeping. So breakfast was a fairly quiet affair between the two cousins that morning, which if Souji was honest, wasn't an uncommon occurrence during his original stay at the Dojima house.

Souji and Nanako finished their meals relatively fast and placed their dishes in the sink to be washed at another time. Looking at the clock Souji decided to head out a little bit before Nanako that morning. Putting on his shoes he turned to look at the brown haired girl. "Well Nanako I'm leaving, see ya when I get home!" Souji called out as he opened the front door.

"Okay, bye!" Nanako called out to her cousin as she headed back upstairs to grab her bag which she had left behind. Since Nanako's school was closer to the Dojima house than Yasogami High the younger of the cousins wasn't in as much of a hurry as her older cousin so she still have a few minutes to kill.

* * *

In the meantime Souji was walking at a slightly brisk pace as he wanted to get to a store that he knew carried processed lunches, buy said lunch for school, and then quickly get to Yasogami High. As Souji made his way from the residential area to the north shopping district he noticed that not many people were out and walking, in fact some children were actually being driven by their parents who were in a hurry to get to work.

Souji wasn't too surprised to see this, last time a number of students were ferried to school by car because of the panic the first two deaths had caused. In about two weeks or so the parents wouldn't be as freaked out Souji concluded as he continued his faster than average pace.

Souji placed the packed lunch he had bought from the store into his school bag for safe keeping. 'At least I didn't forget my wallet this morning.' Souji thought while rolling his eyes. A lot of things were messed up yesterday. Souji knew this to be true; perhaps it was just a side effect of having been pulled back in time. "But I got to get my head on straight today." He stated as he began walking towards the high school. "I won't let any more people die," He quietly declared to himself "I failed Yamano-san, but this time I react before it's too late, I'll save Saki Konishi." Souji whispered to himself while clenching his hands into fist.

Soon he found himself passing through the south shopping district, it too felt pretty empty. Not many people were walking the streets, and those who were seemed to be in a hurry or slightly jumpy. Souji's eyes lightened up as he passed by some of the familiar shops that he had visited. He recognized the shop that textile shop where a certain bleached haired delinquent lived, he also passed by tofu shop that Rise's grandmother owned, Marukyu Tofu, and the gray haired teen also couldn't help but be tempted to enter the Metal Works shop, but knew that it would have to wait until later.

Souji also passed by the book shop that he had purchased books from during his time in Inaba. 'And of course the local gas station.' The gray haired student thought to himself. 'But of course no sign of Izanami.' That was one thing Souji had noticed during the time he spent in Inaba; Izanami only came out when it was raining and also the first day he had arrived. 'So I probably won't see her until we get a rainy day.' The teenager thought to himself as he exited the Shopping District altogether and made his way to the floodplains.

Souji could hear the hushed whispers of gossip from his the few students who had no choice but to continue walking to school despite a _possible_ murder have happened the day before.

Souji's gaze rested onto a pair of male students who were talking somewhat loudly. "Dude did you hear about that announcer lady yesterday?" A guy with long hair asked his friend.

The boy nodded in confirmation. "Oh yeah, my older sister was there when they took the body down. She said that it was pretty gruesome."He sighed in slight weariness. "But I can only imagine how the person who found the body feels." The boy with short hair expressed actually sounding a little concerned.

The long haired student nodded in response. "Yeah no kidding, I heard she's a high school student like us."

As Souji and the other students neared the school the sound of squeaky wheels echoed in the distance. "Gain way!" A familiar voice shouted in terror. Souji, already knowing the cause, turned around to see Yosuke ride past him at breakneck speed on his bike. The gray haired teen rolled his eyes as Yosuke crashed into a trash can, before getting stuck, and proceeding to rolling around on the floor. "S-Someone?" The brown haired teen moaned as he continued to roll around on the ground.

The gray haired teen sighed to himself while rolling his eyes. "Good morning to you too." He said while moving to help his friend.

"Thanks for saving my behind again." Yosuke said with a chuckle once he had been freed from the garbage can.

Souji crossed his arms. "I'm starting to think that you're just a glutton for punishment. You should really get a new bike." The gray haired teen said while staring at the old bike. 'It's amazing that thing's still moving considering how much it's been through.'

Yosuke sighed before cracking his neck. "I'd like to, but I'm saving up money for a motorcycle." He told Souji before shaking his head. "Anyway," Yosuke's tone made it clear that the topic of the conversation had shifted. "Did you hear about that announcer lady they found hanging on that pole yesterday?" Souji, despite not really wanting to hear about it, gave a stiff nod. "Freaky huh? I mean who the hell accidently dies on an antenna?" Yosuke's words were slightly curious but also sarcastic. "To me it sounds like a warning or something, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, the likely hood of this being an accident is pretty slim." Souji affirmed already knowing the whole truth of the matter. "It's possible that…" He trailed off in a mutter leaving the remaining words unspoken in the air around the two students.

Yosuke nodded as he felt a slight shiver go up his spine. "Dangling a dead body like that, pretty sick." The teen with brown fluffy haired stated before pausing to add in, "Of course it's pretty twisted to kill someone in the first place." He clumsily added in.

Suddenly Yosuke's gaze caught site with the cheap watch on his wrist. "Shit, we're late!" The brown haired student announced in a slightly panicked voice. He then offered Souji a ride on his bike, stating that it should be okay. "Just a little squeaky, but it's cool." He promised to the nervous gray haired boy.

* * *

The two boys both arrived to their respective classroom a total of four minutes late. King Moron gave Yosuke a long and profanity filled lecture about horny teenagers and how they're unable to get to class on time, meanwhile Souji received a somewhat stern yet kind warning not to be late again by Kurosaki-sensei.

Chie would have felt a little more sympathy for the headphones wearing teen had he not destroyed her DVD the previous day while Yukiko did at least offer the boy a considerate glance before turning back to pay some semblance of attention on King Moron's lesson.

Souji was slightly surprised to see that the girl he had met wasn't in class but didn't think much of it, students got sick at times or decided to skip, and he remembered how Ai Ebihara liked to skip. 'Or maybe her folks were too worried about the 'hanging body murder' that they had her stay home.' Which was another valid possibility considering that a couple of other students were also absent. Souji rolled his eyes at that thought before turning to pay attention to Kurosaki-sensei's lecture.

The morning classes came and went, and before Souji knew it the lunch bell had rung. Standing up Souji retrieved the lunch he had bought before school that morning. 'Where should I eat?' Souji asked himself as he moved to leave the classroom.

Upon exiting the class Souji's thoughts came to an abrupt halt as he heard someone calling to him. Turning he saw a smiling Yosuke, who was standing at the bottom of the stairs, waving for him to come over. "Souji, what's up?" The brunette asked out of curiosity.

Souji gave a nonverbal response by shrugging his shoulders before answering. "Not much, just trying to figure out where to eat lunch."

The two boys ultimately decided to eat their lunch on the school roof, after Yosuke bought lunch from the cafeteria, the two headed up to the roof to eat. As the duo walked up the stairs Souji spoke out of the blue. "So, where are those two girls from yesterday?" The gray haired teen asked curious to hear his friend's answer.

"Hmm?" Yosuke responded as he wasn't expecting the gray haired student to ask that question. "Oh Chie and Yukiko-san? They're eating lunch together, we're not really all that great of friends, well Yukiko and Chie are pretty good friends, but…" Yosuke sighed dejectedly. "Yukiko-san and I never really became anything more than simple acquaintances and Chie tends to get pissed off at me for no reason." He answered as they finally made it to the roof.

There were a few students scattered around eating on the roof, but fortunately there were quite a few spots to sit and enough room that the area didn't feel too crowded. As soon as the two sat down they began eating their individual meals. "Anyway," Yosuke started out in between mouthfuls of food. "Where'd you say you were from?"

"Tokyo, Shibuya to be more exact"

Yosuke brightened up slightly. "Cool, I'm also from around that area. Moved here six months ago so my pops could manage the Junes here. At first I wasn't too thrilled about leaving the city, but I've actually come to like this small town." Yosuke admitted as he glanced over the roof where he could see the small buildings in the Shopping District.

Souji nodded in understanding. While he had lived the majority of his life in the city he had come to love Inaba, it was where he made the best friends he could have ever met, the place where he awakened to his power, and the place where his true family lived. His Little Sis Nanako and his uncle Dojima lived here, and they were his family. "I don't mind it one bit, it's a lot different than the city." Souji said while being unable to contain the light smile on his face.

The headphones wearing teen didn't take notice the serene look on Souji's face; for he was too busy stuffing his face. "Yeah, really peaceful." Yosuke agreed with a mouth full of food as he continued to eat his food.

Souji nodded before allowing his features to harden slightly. 'It won't be very peaceful for long.' The Persona-user thought to himself as he gripped his chopsticks tightly. Sighing he decided to ignore the aspects of the TV world, Shadows, and Personas and just act like a regular high school student for a little while.

The two teenagers sat back and started to swap stories of their time in the city, and of a few tidbits of Yosuke's experience in Inaba. Souji was happy to be able to hang out with his old partner, even if Yosuke had absolutely no idea of the things they went through together, it was still nice to talk and joke together. Before the two teens knew it the bell was ringing which prompted the duo to leave the roof and dump their trash, and in Yosuke's case rush to the cafeteria to deposited his tray.

Souji was back in his seat with just a few moments to spare before the bell rang. Soon the final bell that signaled the beginning of the afternoon classes rang and before he knew it Souji was standing up after the ringing of the final bell for the day.

* * *

The gray haired student exited his classroom and headed over to the front exit of the school. As he was exchanging his indoor shoes for his regular outdoor shoes he heard someone greet him. "Yo, Souji!" Yosuke Hanamura called out as he swiftly walked down the steps. "What's up?" The teen asked while giving Souji a light punch on the shoulder.

Shrugging the gray haired teen casually replied to his friend's question. "Nothing, just going home is all. Why?"

Yosuke gave a gracious smile. "Listen, I kinda owe ya for yesterday and today. You know with pulling me out of the garbage, so let me repay you." Yosuke's tone made it sound as though he wouldn't take no for an answer. "Let's get some grilled steak, on me. Thankfully I know a place that sells it cheap." Yosuke mentioned under his breath.

Unfortunately for Yosuke he was just a little too loud, because a certain short haired female heard him. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Chie Satonaka said as she walked over to the two boys. "How about me, huh? My DVD, you know the one that you mercilessly destroyed?" The short haired second year student reminded Yosuke who could only groan in response.

"Uhg! Why is it that whenever food is involved you decide to show up?" He asked annoyed at the girl who still wouldn't let go of her little grudge regarding her movie that he had accidently broken. He then turned to Souji with a pleading look. "Come on dude, back me up here." He begged to which Souji raised his hands in mock surrender as he knew not to go against Chie. "Do I really have to treat two people?" Yosuke asked himself as he feared what the repercussions would be on his wallet. "Lame," He sighed in defeat.

* * *

To many people who lived in Inaba Junes was just a big cooperate place, with many shops that advertised cheaply made products, but to Souji, Junes was the Investigation Team's main base of operations. It felt good to be sitting back at the old table that the group would always use during the time they were working to solve the murder. Of course though Souji seemed to be the only person to be pleased with being at Junes.

Chie's expression was considerably disappointed. "This is the cheap place you were talking about?!" Chie griped at the headphones wearing teen with annoyance in her venom filled voice. "They don't serve steak here!" She accused feeling robbed of her chance to finally get some good meat without having to pay for it.

Rolling his eyes the brown haired teen turned to face the seated Chie. "Shut up." Yosuke tiredly said as he handed Souji a drink, and then one to Chie. "When you invited yourself I found myself having to cater to two people, not including myself, so my plans were changed." He explained while sitting down and taking a slurp of his drink.

Souji scratched his head with a nervous laugh. "Ch-Chie-senpai," He started out having to remind himself to address the short haired girl properly for appearances sake. "Is it really that big of a deal?" He questioned sheepishly while taking a drink of his soda.

The girl in question sighed before sitting back in her seat. "No, no it's not." Chie admitted before perking back up and pointing an accusing finger at the heir of Junes. "But still, there's no reason for him to take us to his place." She stated defiantly.

Yosuke rolled his eyes at Chie's usual demeanor. "Shut up, it's not like this is my place or anything. And besides, this is more of a _welcome to town_ thing for Souji over here." Yosuke said while pointing at his new friend. "Anyway, be happy I didn't make you pay for your own Chie." Yosuke said somewhat teasingly. "Cheers," Yosuke said as he raised his cup followed by the two other Yasogami High students.

Conversation became lively as the three teenagers made simple small talk. The three traded a few stories and jokes throughout the next five or so minutes until something happened to make the flow of conversation falter.

Souji caught site of a familiar girl in the corner of his eye. 'Saki Konishi…' He thought to himself making sure not to analyze her for too long.

Having also noticed Saki Yosuke turned his full attention on the high school senior. "Oh it's Saki-senpai." He spoke pleasantly surprised to see the older girl. "Uh…I'll be right back." He said before standing up with the intention of walking over to her.

Souji wordlessly observed the brown haired youth as he approached the girl. To him she looked, even as far away as he was from her, exhausted worn out and very stressed. He felt bad for the older girl, even though he had never had more than a single conversation with her he still felt terrible that she had to die, and how her death effected Yosuke.

The voice of the Kung-fu movie obsessed teen broke though his thoughts. "That's Saki Konishi." Chie explained when she noticed that Souji was staring at the Yosuke and the older girl. "Her family owns the liquor store in the shopping district." Chie informed the city boy. "Apparently she's a part-timer here."

Souji nodded in acknowledgement to show that he had been listening to Chie. For a few minutes the two teens who were still seated watched as Yosuke greeted a weary-looking Saki Konishi, they couldn't hear what the two were saying but from the looks of it, Yosuke's dramatic step back, it appeared to be a fairly lively conversation.

After a few more seconds of talking the two walked over to where Chie and Souji had been watching from. Saki walked right over to Souji, up close Souji, hell anyone, could see just how drained Saki Konishi looked, but Souji did have to give her props for doing her best to appear upbeat. "Are you the new transfer student?" The senior high school student asked.

Souji nodded in response. "Yeah, just got here the other day, from Tokyo." He told her which prompted her to smile.

Saki appeared pleased at that bit of information. "Cool, it must be pretty nice to have a friend whose also from the city. I rarely see Hana-chan hanging out with the other guys." The older girl said somewhat concerned of Yosuke.

The person in question appeared to be slightly surprised at Saki's bluntness. "That's not completely true…" He muttered as Saki went on to explain how Yosuke doesn't have many friends.

Saki smiled as she saw Yosuke's expression from the corner of her eye. "Hana-chan's a good guy, but he does tend to get nosy." The older girl spoke from personal experience at having been around Yosuke Hanamura for a while. "If he ever starts to annoy you be sure to tell him right to his face." Saki explained with a mischievous smile.

Souji smiled wearily as he remembered how Yosuke did have the tendency to get on the annoying side. "I'll be sure to take note of that, he can get a little too hyperactive for his own good." The gray haired Persona-user said with a slight chuckle which prompted Saki laughed in return.

Yosuke groaned in response while Chie couldn't help but smile at seeing Yosuke's apparent annoyance at being the butt of a joke between his old and new friends. "Okay, lighten up you guys." The teen with brown hair said slightly irritated. "The two of you are killing my self esteem."

Saki appeared to be slightly amused at Yosuke before she sighed. "Well my breaks almost over…" The older girl announced while checking her watch. "Back to work I go…" She said, trying to appear excited but failing miserably. "Laters…"

"Saki-senpai…" Yosuke whispered to himself as he watched the older girl walk off with a look of longing. The brown haired teen sighed before plopping back in his seat. Smiling he turned to his gray haired friend. "Saki-senpai says I'm annoying, but she's even nosier than me." He told the Persona user. "She has a younger brother, and she sort of treats me the same way she treats him." His voice held a slight tone of disappointment.

Chie was quick to tease Yosuke about his obvious crush on Saki Konishi. Souji couldn't help but chuckle as Chie made Yosuke blush redder than a tomato as she described the 'flames of forbidden love' to the two teenagers. "Shut up, it's not like that at all." The blushing brunette voice was filled with embarrassment as he felt that the short haired girl had gone far enough.

"Aww." Chie mocked in a fake sweet tone once Yosuke told her to stop. "I've got just the thing to cure that lovesick heart." She informed him before leaning forward to the two boys in order to speak soft enough that they could hear. "Ever hear of the Midnight Channel?" She asked with a slight smirk before going into detail about the rumor which states that if a person looks into the screen of a turned off TV on a rainy day at midnight alone that they'll see their soul mate.

Upon leaving the Junes Food Court the two boys had promised a very persistent Chie Satonaka that they would each watch the Midnight Channel on the next rainy night, which by coincidence would be that very same night.

* * *

"You're late again…" Nanako muttered as her father took a seat on the couch facing the TV in the living room of the Dojima home.

Ryotaro looked apologetic but very tired. "I know." He stated in a weary voice. "Been busy at work," He said in a vague tone. "Could you put the news on for me?" He politely asked his younger daughter who slowly changed the channel just a few seconds before the interview with the first person to discover the body of Mayumi Yamano the previous day.

After a few minutes of the news reporter talking about a few things regarding the murder victim the interview started. Souji, Ryotaro, and Nanako all silently watched the flickering box. "Interview with the kid?" The elder Dojima muttered under his breath as the news mentioned the person who discovered the body of the deceased announcer. "Where the hell did they find her?" He questioned not even blinking as he swore in front of his daughter.

"What went through your mind when you discovered the body?"The interviewer asked slightly more excited than he should. "Could you tell that she was dead, did you see her face?" The man kept firing questions while the girl just sounded nervous and unsure.

The person hesitated for a second. "Uhh…well." The girl's words sounded very unsure and frazzled.

Usually on this type of program the appearance and voice of a minor who is being interviewed would be hidden and made indistinct. That was simply a way of keeping the unwanted attention off of the minor, and this case was no different. Yet as Souji and his uncle plus younger cousin watched the program something became very clear to the gray haired teen.

Souji's mouth parted as realization struck him. 'That's not Saki Konishi…' He thought to himself with wide gray eyes. 'That's not Saki Konishi, that's not Saki Konishi. That is not Saki Konishi, who the hell is that?!' He all but screamed in his head. He continued to watch the interview with wide eyes of shock and questioning.

As the interview carried on and the interviewer continued to ask more and more awkward questions it was obvious that the girl was uncomfortable talking about this but she did her best to answer them all. "I heard that you found the body when you left school in a big rush, tell me why you were in such a hurry? Was it because you were on your way to a boyfriend's house?" The interviewer inquired in a suggestive tone

The older man in the room rolled his eyes at the reporter's obvious excitement. "How is that even relevant?" Ryotaro Dojima inquired slightly annoyed at the reporter's enthusiasm before sighing knowing that it was pointless to be irritated with the interviewer's lack of profession.

Under regular everyday circumstances Souji would have to agree with his uncle's statement but as he sat watching the interview, that appeared to be very similar to the one he witnessed last year with the exception as to who was being interviewed. 'Seriously?! Who the hell is that girl?!' Souji kept asking himself even as the news moved away from the interview into something else.

Throughout the rest of the evening Souji kept constantly trying to figure out who that girl was. He couldn't even fathom a guess, the image had been even worse than some of the initial Midnight Channel programs. It wasn't very long after the news ended and a Junes commercial came on that Souji's uncle passed out much to Nanako's disappointment.

The two youths decided to leave Ryotaro undisturbed, let him sleep it off; Souji had said to Nanako before deciding to head up to his room to wait for the Midnight Channel to appear.

* * *

11:57 Souji checked his watch for the third time as he paced back and forth. "Will she still appear on the Midnight Channel?" Souji asked himself with much doubt in his voice. The Persona-user crossed his arms before plopping down on his couch. 'Doubtful," The gray haired teen concluded. "because someone else appeared on the news so people won't even be _thinking_ about Saki Konishi.' He thought to himself annoyed that he still had no idea who this new second victim is.

Souji shook his head as he decided to stop obsessing over this new development like he had been for the last couple of hours. The youth opted to just rely on the Midnight Channel for answers. "Maybe the Midnight Channel will shed some light on this?" Souji muttered optimistically as he leaned back in the couch. Glancing at his watch told him that it was a minute till midnight.

Souji's heart started to pound within his chest, he hadn't watched the Midnight Channel since the case, and now he was filled with a sense of anxiety. The only sound he could hear was the light tapping of water as the rain continued to fall outside. Souji kept staring at his TV, willing it to flicker to life.

Suddenly as the clock struck 12:00am the TV buzzed to life, a blue gray screen flashed before showing a brief image of a girl, who appeared to be in her teens. Souji was unable to get a look at her face due to her back was to him, but he noted that she had brown hair that went past her shoulders and to her mid back. She was wearing a green T-shirt and a black skirt that went just above her knees. The girl, who Souji concluded was around his age, also seemed to be screaming at someone (or something?) but Souji couldn't see who or what she was yelling at. Nor could he hear the girl's voice almost as if the show was on mute.

Suddenly the girl glanced over her shoulder almost as if she felt she was being watched, but sadly Souji still couldn't make out her face as the Midnight Channel's reception was beyond lousy. Then the girl turned her head back and suddenly the picture was lost followed by the TV turning off.

Souji narrowed his eyes at the TV that innocently continued to remain turned off. The Midnight Channel hadn't been very much help. 'All this succeeded in doing was confirming what he already knew, that Saki Konishi hadn't been thrown in this time. But why?' Souji questioned as he stood to his feet. 'Why did Saki not appear on the news, and who did Adachi throw into the TV?' The Persona-user wondered to himself as he laid his futon out so he could finally go to sleep.

Souji knew that if he was desperate enough he could try jumping through the TV downstairs but that posed two risks that Souji was not willing to take. One, his uncle was still asleep on the couch in front of said TV, sneaking in might not be so difficult but saving the person, much less getting her out undetected would be nothing short of a chore. And should he awaken his uncle while exiting the TV with the victim, assuming he was able to find his way back, which would lead to a lot of unwanted and uncomfortable questions.

'And then there's the part about actually getting out of the Shadow World.' Souji was smart enough to remember that each and every time the Investigation Team wanted to exit the TV world they had to use Teddie's portal. So if Souji were to recklessly charge in to save this person, he'd also have to defeat their Shadow by his lonesome since at the moment he and Adachi were the only active Persona-users in Inaba. So even should he be victorious against the Shadow, which will take up a lot of his energy, they gray haired teen is certain that he wouldn't be able to ward off every Shadow as he tried to locate Teddie, and keep the kidnapped victim away from harm.

The gray haired Persona-user was smart; he knew that his best bet was to wait until tomorrow after school. "Not tonight." Souji whispered as he went under the covers. 'Tomorrow after school I'll jump into the TV world, and save whoever Adachi put in there.' Souji thought to himself as he allowed his eyes to close, within a few minutes the gray haired teenager had fallen asleep.

* * *

Shadow Souji tapped his foot impatiently as he stared at the now blank TV screen. Turning over to the smug looking detective he couldn't help but scowl. He was not pleased with this adjustment that his partner had added. "What was going through your mind, you imbecile?" He inquired through clenched teeth.

Tohru Adachi looked surprised for a moment before frowning at the yellow eyed teen. "What the hell are you blabbering about? I did exactly as you instructed. I threw in the gold digging bitch who found the body. What more do you want from me?" The detective demanded from the Shadow aggressively.

The white skinned teen sighed as he kicked the TV stand in front of him. "You don't get it, that's not the girl who found the body. Or…at least…" Shadow Souji paused as he scratched his chin. Suddenly his brain went into overdrive. What caused this girl to be the one to find the body instead of Saki Konishi? Did his other half have something to do with this? Had he interfered already?

Shadow Souji didn't know who this girl was, he had no memory of her having any sort of connection to Souji beforehand. In fact he didn't think that he had ever seen her before. "Hmmm…" He sighed before shrugging. "Well nothing we can do now, this girl or Saki Konishi, it doesn't make any real difference to me, either of them will do quite nicely." He decided as his scowl turned into a large malicious grin.

* * *

**So there you go, hope you all liked it. And I hope that the length of the chapter made up for the long wait. I wish I could update faster, heck I wish I actually had an update schedule, but sadly I write when I'm in the mood, and as of lately those instances have become far too few than I would like. But hopefully it won't take too long to get the next chapter out. **

**Also when I was in the final stages of editing this, cleaning up and all, I noticed that there were more mistakes than I would have liked. I think I got them all, but I'm not sure considering it's one in the morning. So if there are any grammar mistakes I apologize. **


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